THE   SANITARY  DRAINAGE 


HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 


ELEVENTH  EDITION,  REVISED  AND  ENLARGED. 


GEORGE  E.  \\TARING,  JR. 

CONSULTING  ENGINEER  FOR  AGRICULTURAL  AND  SANITARY  WORKS. 


'A  hale  cobbler  is  a  better  man  than  a  sick  king." 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK  : 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY. 

(Cbe  Rrtiersite  $rts&  CambriD0e. 


Copyright,  1876, 
BT  GEORGE  E.  WARING,  J8. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A, 
Printed  by  H.  0.  Iloughton  &  Company. 


PREFACE. 


THIS  book  has  grown  out  of  a  series  of  articles 
originally  published  in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly " 
magazine.  The  interest  evinced  in  the  subject  by 
persons  in  every  condition  of  life,  and  in  all  parts 
of  the  country,  seemed  to  indicate  that  its  more  de- 
tailed treatment  would  be  acceptable.  As  the  in- 
vestigations which  the  preparation  of  those  articles 
made  necessary  have,  together  with  professional 
studies,  brought  within  my  reach  a  wide  range  of 
material,  I  have  presumed  to  submit  what  I  have 
to  say  on  the  subject  in  this  more  permanent  and 
more  complete  form. 

The  following  chapters  are  not  offered  as  of  ma- 
terial value  to  such  engineers  and  architects  as  have 
given  attention  to  their  subject,  as  these  would  nat- 
urally resort  to  the  original  authorities  from  which 
they  have  been  so  largely  drawn.  They  are  ad- 
dressed more  especially  to  the  average  citizen  and 
householder,  and  are  intended  rather  as  an  incen- 
ti\  e  to  the  securing  of  good  work,  than  as  a  guide 
to  the  manner  of  its  performance.  For  this  reason 
rhey  are  largely  devoted  to  the  question  of  prevent- 
able disease ;  to  the  manner  in  which  this  increases 


Vi  PREFACE. 

our  death-rate  and  lessens  our  worth  to  ourselves 
and  to  the  community ;  and  to  those  means  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  best  adapted  lor  the  re- 
moval of  unhealthful  conditions. 

The  instances  are  of  course  not  rare  in  which  the 
individual  householder  may  have  it  in  his  power  to 
secure,  either  by  his  own  direction,  or  by  his  influ- 
ence over  the  sanitary  authorities  of  his  town  or 
city,  an  improvement  of  the  conditions  by  which 
the  health  of  his  own  household  is  now  endangered. 
To  this  end  I  have  endeavored  to  include  so  much 
of  specific  instruction  as  shall  enable  him  to  give  a 
direction  to  the  necessary  local  improvements. 

Some  of  the  points  discussed  are  especially  in- 
tended for  the  information  of  town  authorities,  and 
the  usual  sewer  and  health  committees  of  local  gov- 
ernment boards. 

If  I  shall  have  succeeded  in  inducing  such  per- 
sons to  secure  the  needed  reforms,  and  to  insure  their 
proper  execution,  this  part  of  my  work  will  have 
attained  its  best  purpose. 

NEWPORT,  K.  I.,  March,  1876. 

This  second  edition  is  corrected  and  amended  in 
accordance  with  the  material  recent  improvement* 
of  the  art. 

NKWPOHT,  B.  I.,  June,  1879. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

IHB  SAMTTART  RELATIONS  OF  DKAI.NAGK  . 


CHAPTER    H. 
FHE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  . 


CHAPTER   IIL 
THE  DRAINAGE  OF  TOWNS .    KM 

CHAPTER    IV. 
ARRANGING  PLANS  FOR  TOWN  SEWERAGE 183 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  SEWERS 180 

CHAPTER  VI. 
FHE  DETAILS  OF  HOUSE  DRAINING      ......     188 

CHAPTER  VH. 
FHK  DRY  CO.NSKRVANCY  SYSTEM til 


Till  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIIL 


VAULTS  AMD  PRIVIES 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE  . 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  DISPOSAL  OF  SKWAGK  ......       -  314 


CHAPTER  XL 
DRAINAGE  OF  A  VILLAGE    ...»,.  MI 


CHAPTER  XH. 
EBOEMT  MODIFICATIONS  IN  SANITARY  URAINAGB      .        .  844 


THE  SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES 
AND  TOWNS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  SANITARY  RELATIONS  OP  DRAINAGE. 

"  Mr.  Wadley  —  described  as  a  stout,  robust  gentleman  —  could 
not  understand  all  the  fuss  made  nowadays  about  the  water  ques- 
tion. Mr.  Cooper  cut  the  knot.  He  said  that  sin  had  brought 
disease  into  the  world,  and  the  Almighty  permitted  the  outbreak  of 
diarrhoea  in  their  midst;  neither  doctors  nor  any  one  else  could 
prevent  it.  Mr.  Cooper  is  not  far  wrong.  Sin  has  much  to  do 
with  diarrhoea,  especially  municipal  sin,  which  permits  a  population 
to  drink  sewage,  and  then  coolly  satisfies  itself  with  referring  the 
'udgment  to  the  Almighty." 

THE  art  of  Sanitary  Drainage  may  almost  be  said 
to  have  been  born  —  or  reborn  —  but  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  and  it  has  contended  with  much  diffi- 
culty in  bringing  itself  to  the  notice  of  the  public. 
Indeed,  it  is  only  within  the  past  ten  years  that  it 
has  made  its  -way  in  any  important  degree  outside 
of  purely  professional  literature. 

Dr.  Henry  Maccormac  says,  "  We  live  or  we  die, 
live  well  or  miserably,  live  our  full  term  or  perish 
prematurely,  accordingly  as  we  shall  wisely  or  oth- 
erwise determine." 


10       SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

Happily,  men,  —  and  women  too, —  are  fast  corn- 
big  to  realize  the  fact  that  humanity  is  responsible 
for  much  of  its  own  sickness  and  premature  death, 
and  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  offer  an  apology  for 
presenting  to  public  consideration  a  subject  in 
which,  more  than  in  any  other,  —  that  is,  the  sub- 
ject of  its  own  healthfulness  and  the  cleanliness  of 
its  own  living,  —  the  general  public  is  vitally  inter- 
ested. 

The  evils  arising  from  sanitary  neglect  are  as  old 
as  civilization,  perhaps  as  old  as  human  life,  and 
they  exist  about  every  isolated  cabin  of  the  newly 
settled  country.  As  population  multiplies,  as  cab- 
ins accumulate  into  hamlets,  as  hamlets  grow  into 
villages,  villages  into  towns,  and  towns  into  cities, 
the  effects  of  the  evil  become  more  intense,  and  in 
their  appeal  to  our  attention  they  are  reinforced  by 
the  fact  that  while  in  isolated  life  fatal  or  debili- 
tating illness  may  equally  arise,  in  compact  commu- 
nities each  case  arising  is  a  menace  to  others,  so 
that  a  single  centre  of  contagion  may  spread  devas- 
tation on  every  side. 

It  is  not  enough  that  we  build  our  houses  on 
healthful  sites,  and  where  we  have  pure  air  and 
pure  water ;  we  must  also  make  provision  for  pre- 
venting these  sites  from  becoming  foul,  as  every  un- 
protected house-site  inevitably  must,  —  by  sheer 
force  of  the  accumulated  waste  of  its  occupants. 

Houses,  even  of  the  best  class,  which  are  free 
from  sanitary  objections  are  extremely  rare.  The 
best  modern  appliances  of  plumbing  are  made  with 


SANITARY  RELATIONS  OF  DRAINAGE.      11 

almost  no  regard  for  the  tendency  of  sewer-gas  to 
find  its  way  into  living-rooms,  nor  for  other  in- 
Bidious  but  well  known  defects.  So  generally  is 
this  true,  that  it  is  hardly  an  exaggeration  to  say 
that  unwholesomeness  in  our  houses  is  practically 
universal.  Hardly  less  universal  is  a  curious  sen- 
sitiveness on  the  part  of  the  occupants  of  these 
houses  to  any  suggestion  of  their  short-comings. 

Singularly  enough,  no  one  whose  premises  are 
subject  to  malarial  influences  seems  willing  to  be 
told  the  truth  with  regard  to  them.  No  man  likes 
to  confess  that  his  own  well  and  his  own  cess-pool 
occupy  the  same  permeable  stratum  in  his  garden  ; 
that  the  decaying  vegetables  in  his  cellar  are  the 
source  of  the  ailments  in  his  household  ;  or  that  an 
obvious  odor  from  his  adjacent  pig-sty,  or  from  his 
costly  marble-topped  wash-stand,  has  to  do  with  the 
disease  his  physician  is  contending  against. 

That  the  imperfections  of  our  own  premises  are  a 
menace  to  our  neighbors  is  a  still  more  irritating 
suggestion,  and  such  criticism  seems  to  invade  the 
domain  of  our  private  rights.  Yet  surely  there  can 
be  no  equitable  or  legal  private  right  whose  main- 
tenance endanger  the  well-being  of  others, — as 
our  wide-spread  disregard  of  the  defects  in  our  own 
houses  does  endanger  the  well-being  of  our  fellow- 
lownsmen.  It  is  not  possible,  in  a  closely  built 
town  or  compact  neighborhood,  for  one  to  retain  in 
his  own  grounds  (either  on  the  surface  or  in  a  vault 
or  cess-pool)  any  form  of  ordure  or  festering  organic 
matter,  without  endangering  the  lives  of  his  neigh- 


12      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

bors,  through  either  the  pollution  of  the  common 
air  or  the  poisoning  of  wells  fed  from  strata  under- 
lying the  whole  ground  and  more  or  less  tainted  by 
household  wastes.  Even  if  he  might  be  permitted 
to  maintain  a  source  of  injury  to  his  own  family, 
his  neighbors  may  well  insist  that  he  shall  not  en- 
danger them. 

It  being  important  for  all  that  each  be  made  to 
live  cleanly,  and  the  requirements  of  all,  so  far  as 
the  removal  of  the  wastes  of  life  is  concerned,  being 
essentially  of  the  same  character,  the  question  of 
drainage  is  one  in  which  the  whole  public  is  inter- 
ested, and  which  should  be  decided  and  carried  out 
by  public  authority,  —  so  that  all  may  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  economy  of  organized  work  and  the 
security  of  work  well  done.  This  applies  not  only 
to  the  construction  of  common  sewers  and  public 
drains,  but  equally  to  those  lateral  branches  of  the 
public  works  which  extend  into  private  grounds  and 
houses,  —  and  it  applies  to  every  detail  of  these. 
So  long  as  these  important  duties  are  left  to  the 
negligence  of  house-holders  and  to  the  demand  for 
excreta  among  those  who  use  manure,  so  long  will 
they  remain  haphazard,  unsatisfactory,  and  danger- 
ous. 

Wherever  there  is  a  nystematically  organized  and 
well  conducted  board  of  health,  it  has  been  well 
suggested  that  their  duties  should  include  some 
power  of  veto  upon  the  right  of  building  houses 
upon  unwholesome  sites.  All  scavenging  and  disin- 
fecting must,  in  order  fr>  be  effective,  be  thorough  and 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  13 

iystematic,  — which  conditions  can  only  be  secured 
by  the  most  careful  public  direction  and  supervision. 

The  drainage  question  is  essentially  a  question  ol 
health  and  life.  Dr.  George  Derby  stated  the  whole 
case  when  he  said :  "  The  well  are  made  sick  and  the 
sick  are  made  worse  for  the  simple  lack  of  God's 
pure  air  and  pure  water."  Air  is  infected  and 
water  is  tainted,  not  only  by  defects  in  the  public 
works,  but  quite  as  often  and  quite  as  dangerously 
by  imperfections  in  household  arrangements. 

Neither  Dr.  Derby's  statement  nor  the  most  per- 
fect modern  development  of  the  art  of  cleansing 
towns  by  water-carriage  has  the  merit  of  novelty. 
Hippocrates  gave  as  the  cardinal  hygienic  formula, 
"  Pure  air,  pure  water,  and  a  pure  soil,"  and  after 
all  these  centuries  we  know  nothing  to  add  to  it. 
Our  modern  sewerage  works  are  thus  far  only  tak- 
ing us  back  to  the  cleanly  condition  of  the  most 
prosperous  ancient  cities ;  only  lifting  us  out  of  the 
slough  of  plague-causing  filth  that  marked  the  dark- 
est periods  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  only  continuing  the 
wholesome  revival  that  the  Mohammedan  Moors  in- 
troduced among  the  unwashed  Christians  of  Europe. 
It  is  a  revival  that  has  grown  slowly,  urged  on  by 
the  harsh  whip  of  disease  and  death.  So  late  as  the 
middle  of  the  brilliant  ninteenth  century  it  had 
only  begun  to  command  the  aid  of  the  law,  and  as 
a  subject  of  popular  interest  it  can  hardly  yet  be 
said  to  receive  the  attention  of  even  the  more  intet 
ligent  members  of  society. 


14      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

Yet  when  the  subject  is  once  considered,  every 
thoughtful  person  must  appreciate  the  fact  that  in 
seeking  the  advantages  of  community  of  living  we 
necessarily  depend  at  every  turn  upon  our  fellow- 
men,  and  that  in  this  communion  we  lay  ourselves 
open  to  the  consequences  of  the  neglect  of  others, — 
while  we  equally  threaten  others  with  the  conse- 
quences of  our  own  neglect.  The  influence  of 
thoughtful  persons  cannot  long  be  withheld  from 
a  movement  whose  object  it  is  to  popularize  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil  in  the  conduct  of  the 
daily  life  of  the  household  and  of  society,  and  to 
make  the  public  at  large  insist  that  each  shall  so 
regulate  his  action  as  to  secure  the  greatest  safety 
for  all. 

Public  sanitary  improvement  is  not  the  affair  of 
the  philanthropist  alone,  nor  is  the  interest  of  the 
individual  satisfied  when  he  has  made  his  own  im- 
mediate surroundings  perfect.  Everything  that  can 
affect  the  health  of  the  poorest  and  most  distant  of 
our  neighbors  may  affect  us  ;  and,  practically,  the 
spread  of  disease  in  closely-built  towns  is  more  often 
than  not,  by  the  agency  of  public  sewers,  from  the 
poorest  classes  upward,  so  that  many  a  patient  fall- 
ing ill  of  contagious  or  infectious  disease  in  the  back 
slums  of  the  city  becomes  the  centre  of  a  wide  in- 
fection. The  health  of  each  is  important  to  all, 
and  all  must  join  in  securing  it, — the  public  con- 
trol, in  the  public  interest,  must  extend  to  the  sani- 
tary condition  of  every  household,  —  not  among  th« 
poor  alone,  but  at  least  equally  among  the  rich.  In- 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  15 

deed,  from  the  greater  complication  of  the^r  plumb- 
ing work,  the  houses  of  the  rich  really  .quire  more 
careful  supervision  than  do  the  BUT  ,,er  ones  of  the 
poorer  class. 

Not  less  important  is  the  condition  of  the  public 
sewers  and  drains. 

An  old-fashioned  sewer  has  been  well  called  a  re- 
tort for  the  manufacture  of  sewer  poisons  which  are 
"  laid  on  "  at  every  house  by  an  ingenious  system 
of  pipes  delivering  an  intermittent  supply  through 
every  water-closet,  bath-tub,  and  wash-basin,  and 
producing  its  annual  crop  of  y.ymotic  disease. 

The  case  has  been  very  -well  stated  by  Dr.  Sand- 
with.  "  Now,  in  doing  away  with  the  cess-pools  all 
connected  together,  never  properly  cleansed,  and  last, 
and  worst  of  all,  communicating  with  the  interior 
of  dwelling-houses.  If  you  have  a  case  of  typhoid 
fever  a  mile  off,  who  knows  but  you  may  have  the 
mysterious  fungoid  organisms  conveyed  into  your 
own  house  through  the  water-closet.  It  is  all  very 
well  to  boast  of  traps  and  of  similar  mechanical  ar- 
rangements, but  remember  there  is  such  a  thing  as 
corrosion  of  metals,  and  the  smallest  defect,  no 
larger  than  the  interior  of  a  straw,  may  introduce 
into  your  houses  vast  volumes  of  gas." 

The  great  aim  of  all  sewerage  work  is  to  secure 
to  every  member  of  the  community  his  full  supply 
of  uncontaminated  air,  and,  where  wells  are  used,  of 
pure  drinking  water. 

Referring  to  the  lower  quarters  of  the  city  of  Bos- 
ton, Dr.  Derby  asks  us  to  consider  "  what  would  be 


16      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

the  effect  upon  the  annual  mortality  in  a  community 
like  Boston,  if  the  wretched  cellars  and  crystal  pal- 
aces and  rookeries  and  dens  in  which  the  extremely 
poor  and  improvident  live  could  be  depopulated,  and 
their  occupants  transferred  to  well  drained  and 
lighted  and  ventilated  buildings,  of  however  cheap 
and  simple  construction  ;  if  all  the  foul  fluids  could 
be  made  quickly  to  depart  by  force  of  gravity 
through  ventilated  sewers  ;  if  all  the  foul  solids 
could  be  removed  without  delay  in  carts  provided 
with  means  for  arresting  putrefaction  ;  if  the  blind 
alleys  and  narrow  streets  were  opened  to  the  admis- 
sion of  the  air  and  of  sunlight;  if  the  old  vaults 
were  removed,  the  old  cisterns  torn  down  or  filled, 
and  the  general  principle  of  cleanliness  in  its  broad- 
est sense  applied  to  air,  water,  and  food."  The  pict- 
ure would  have  been  complete,  had  he  suggested  the 
well-known  fact  that  the  danger  to  the  community 
from  the  class  of  diseases  known  as  "  pythogenic  " 
(born  of  putridity)  is  not  confined  to  those  who  live 
amid  these  filthy  surroundings,  but  that  the  very 
sewers  with  which  the  better  houses  are  drained 
are  too  often  subterranean  channels  for  conveying 
poisonous  gases  from  the  places  of  their  origin  to 
quarters  which,  without  this  transmission,  might 
have  their  own  drains  so  arranged  that  they  would 
remain  free  from  contamination. 

Self-preservation  is  the  first  law  of  our  nature  , 
but  it  is  a  law  which  we  ignorantly  and  constantly 
disregard  in  laying  our  life  and  health  at  the  mercy 
af  the  foul  conditions  of  life  prevailing  among  oui 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  17 

neighbors,  —  and  which  we  too  often  disregard  in 
blindly  trusting  to  the  skillful  but  ill-advised  work 
of  our  well-paid  but  untaught  plumbers. 

We  roll  up  our  eyes  and  stand  aghast  when  con- 
templating the  horrors  of  war  ;  yet  the  mortality  of 
war  is  trifling  as  compared  with  the  mortality  by 
preventable  disease.  England,  in  twenty-two  years 
of  continuous  war,  lost  79,700  lives ;  in  one  year  of 
cholera  she  lost  144,860  lives. 

We  look  idly  on  and  see  our  population  decimated 
by  an  infant  mortality  so  great  that  its  like  among 
calves  and  colts  would  appall  the  farmer,  and  set 
the  whole  community  energetically  at  work  to  dis- 
cover a  remedy. 

It  is  estimated  that  for  every  person  dying,  twenty 
fall  sick  (Playfair  estimates  it  at  twenty-eight),  and 
—  to  turn  the  argument  in  a  direction  best  under- 
stood by  many  of  our  more  influential  neighbors  — 
that  every  case  of  sickness  is,  on  an  average,  equiv- 
alent to  a  loss  of  fifty  dollars. 

Dr.  Stephen  Smith  says :  "  Man  is  born  to  health 
and  longevity  ;  disease  is  abnormal,  and  death,  ex- 
cept from  old  age,  is  accidental,  and  both  are  pre- 
ventable by  human  agencies." 

Disease  is  not  a  consequence  of  life ;  it  is  due  to 
on  unnatural  condition  of  living, — to  neglect,  abuse, 
or  want. 

Were  any  excuse  needed  for  the  constant  reitera- 
tion of  such  truths  as  are  known  concerning  the 
origin  and  spread  of  infectious  diseases,  it  is  to  be 
ound  in  the  hope  that  by  creating  a  public  realiza- 
2 


18      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

tion  of  the  danger  of  sanitary  neglect  we  may  ob 
viate  the  necessity  that  now  seems  to  exist  for  the 
appearance  of  occasional  severe  epidemics,  acting 
as  scavengers  and  inducing  the  performance  of  sani- 
tary duties  whose  continued  neglect  would  lead  to 
even  more  serious  results. 

Dr.  Farmer  speaks  of  pestilence  as  the  angel 
"with  which  it  would  seem  it  has  pleased  the 
Almighty  Creator  and  Preserver  of  mankind"  to 
awaken  the  human  race  to  the  duty  of  self-preser- 
vation ;  plagues  "  not  committing  havoc  perpetu- 
ally, but  turning  men  to  destruction  and  then  sud- 
denly ceasing,  that  they  may  consider.  As  the  lost 
father  speaks  to  the  family,  and  the  slight  epidemic 
to  the  city,  so  the  pestilence  speaks  to  nations." 

The  death-rate  in  the  healthiest  broad  districts  in 
England  may  be  fixed  at  about  fifteen  per  thousand 
per  annum ;  but  taking  the  whole  kingdom  into 
consideration,  the  death-rate  is  thirty-five  per  thou- 
sand, over  one  fourth  of  the  deaths  being  due  to 
preventable  diseases.  It  is  estimated  that  eighteen 
deaths  take  place  every  hour  which  might  have  been 
prevented  by  proper  precaution.  In  addition  to 
this,  account  must  be  taken  of  the  lowering  of  the 
tone  of  health  of  those  who  survive,  and  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  vast  number  of  weakly  persons  who  are 
a  tax  on  the  community,  and  who  transmit  an  in- 
heritance of  physical  weakness  to  their  offspring. 
Infants  are  most  susceptible  to  unhealthful  influ- 
ences, and  one  half  of  the  population  of  Great  Brii> 
ain  dies  before  attaining  the  age  of  five  years. 


SANITARY    RELATIONS   OF   DRAINAGE.  19 

By  another  statement :  "  Looking  at  England  as 
ft  whole,  we  see  that  of  each  one  hundred  persons 
who  die,  not  quite  ten  have  reached  the  standard 
old  age  of  seventy-five  years  ;  and  that  of  each  one 
hundred  children  born,  hardly  seventy-four  com- 
plete five  years  of  life." 

An  ordinary  epidemic  any  modern  community 
will  bear  almost  with  indifference.  The  few  who 
know  the  close  relation  between  the  disease  and  its 
preventable  cause  will  generally  maintain  their  ac- 
customed indifference  until  their  own  circle  is  at- 
tacked, and  even  then  they  are  powerless  to  arouse 
the  authorities  to  the  necessary  action.  It  is  only 
when  an  outbreak  of  more  than  ordinary  malignity 
occurs  that  even  the  sanitary  boards  of  most  of  our 
towns  bestir  themselves  in  the  matter ;  but  if  the 
prevalence  and  the  malignity  be  sufficient,  there 
follows  a  most  active  cleansing  of  streets,  purifica- 
tion of  drains,  and  investigation  of  the  private  hab- 
its of  the  lower  classes  of  the  people.  Then  only 
is  such  attention  given  to  the  most  obvious  duty  not 
only  of  the  sanitary  authorities,  but  of  every  man 
in  the  community,  as,  had  it  been  exercised  in  ad- 
vance, would  have  prevented  every  unnecessary 
death  and  every  case  of  preventable  sickness  that 
has  gone  to  swell  the  aggregate  needed  to  attract 
public  attention. 

Nothing  so  arouses  the  alarm  of  a  people  as  an 
epidemic  of  cholera ;  yet  it  is  a  singular  fact  that, 
aven  during  the  most  severe  cholera  epidemics,  the 
ieaths  from  this  disease  are  less  than  from  many 


20      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


others  which  attract  no  attention  and  excite  no  ap- 
prehension. During  the  very  alarming  epidemic  of 
1849-50,  there  were  31,506  deaths  from  cholera  in 
the  United  States.  During  the  same  period,  there 
were  more  than  this  number  of  deaths  from  other 
diseases  of  the  intestinal  canal,  and  more  from  fevers 
alone. 

That  a  proper  use  of  known  sanitary  appliances 
is  competent  to  remove  the  causes  of  a  large  class  of 
fatal  diseases  is  hardly  disputed,  and  it  is  clearly 
proven  by  experience  here  and  abroad. 

Mr.  Baldwin  Latham,  in  his  excellent  work  on 
"  Sanitary  Engineering,"  gives  the  following  table, 
showing  the  effect  on  health  of  sanitary  works  in 
different  towns  in  England  :  — 


Average 
Mortality 

Average 
Mortality 

Reduction 

Bednction 

Name  of 

Place. 

Popula- 
tion in 

per  1,006 
before 

per  1,000 
since  Com- 

Saving of 
Life 

of  Typhoid 
Fever  Bate 

in  Rate  of 
Phthisis 

1861. 

Construc- 

pletion of 

per  Cent.1 

per  Cent. 

per  Cent. 

tion  of 

Work*. 

Works. 

Banbury     . 

10,238 

23.4 

205 

12i 

48 

41 

Cardiff  .     . 

32,954 

33.2 

22.6 

32 

40 

17 

Croydon     . 

30,229 

23.7 

18.6 

22 

63 

17 

Dover    .     . 

23,108 

22.6 

20.9 

7 

36 

20 

Ely  ... 

7,847 

23.9 

20.5 

14 

56 

47 

Leicester     . 

68,056 

26.4 

25.2 

*4 

48 

32 

Macclesfield 

27,475 

29.8 

23.7 

20 

48 

31 

Merthyr      . 

52,778 

33.2 

26.2 

18 

60 

11 

Newport     . 

24,756 

31.8 

21.6 

32 

36 

32 

Rugby  .     . 

7,818 

19.1 

18.6 

2i 

10 

43 

Salisbury    . 

9,030 

27.5 

21.9 

20 

75 

49 

Warwick    . 

10,570 

22.7 

210 

1\ 

52 

19 

i  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  even  this  great  saving  of  life  hat  beM 
rffected  by  works  that  are  very  far  from  perfect. 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF   DRAINAGE  21 

The  average  reduction  of  typhoid  rate  was  nearly 
one  half  (47f  per  cent.)  in  these  twelve  small  towns. 
It  is  believed  to  be  practicable,  by  the  use  of  the 
most  perfect  known  methods  of  drainage  and  ven- 
tilation, absolutely  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  a 
single  original  case,  and  to  confine  all  importations 
of  the  disease  to  the  persons  of  those  who  bring 
them. 

Two  hundred  years  ago  the  death-rate  of  London 
was  eighty  per  thousand ;  under  the  influence  of 
sanitary  improvements  it  has  now  been  reduced  to 
twenty-one  and  one -half  per  thousand,  in  spite  of 
the  enormous  growth  of  the  town  and  the  great 
crowding  to  which  many  of  its  people  are  still  sub- 
jected. 

When  the  improvement  of  sewerage  was  actively 
undertaken  in  London  some  twenty-five  years  ago, 
it  was  found  that  the  death-rate  was  so  much  re- 
duced, in  some  of  the  worst  quarters  of  the  town, 
that  if  the  same  reduction  could  be  made  universal 
the  annual  deaths  would  be  twenty-five  thousand 
less  in  London,  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-seven 
thousand  less  in  England  and  Wales ;  or,  by  another 
view,  that  the  average  age  at  death  would  be  forty- 
eight  instead  of  twenty -nine,  as  it  then  was. 

The  early  registration  returns  of  England  de- 
veloped the  fact  that  the  prevalence  of  fatal  dis- 
eases was  in  the  case  of  some  three  times,  of  some 
ten  or  twenty  times,  and  of  others  even  forty  or 
fifty  times  greater  in  certain  districts  than  in  others, 
ind  that  these  diseases  raised  the  mortality  of  some 


22      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWN£. 

districts  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  per  cent,  higher 
than  that  of  other  districts,  the  death-rate  of  the 
whole  country  being  from  thirty  to  forty  per  cent, 
above  that  of  its  healthiest  parts. 

The  effect  of  sanitary  improvement  has  bee* 
nowhere  better  shown  than  in  the  British  navy, 
where  in  1779  the  death-rate  was  one  in  forty-two 
(this  of  able-bodied,  picked  men),  and  the  sick 
were  two  in  every  five.  In  1813,  after  the  means 
and  appliances  of  health  had  been  furnished,  the 
death-rate  was  one  in  one  hundred  and  forty-three, 
and  the  sick  two  in  twenty-one. 

Less  than  a  generation  ago  the  idea  prevailed  that 
it  was  of  doubtful  propriety  to  ask  why  we  are  sick, 
and  even  to  this  day  many  believe  that  such  an  in- 
quiry savors  of  irreligion.  Happily  this  condition 
of  otherwise  intelligent  minds  is  passing  away. 

While  we  know,  thus  far,  comparatively  little  of 
the  exact  causes  of  disease,  our  knowledge  at  least 
points  to  certain  perfectly  well-established  truths. 
One  of  these  is  that  man  cannot  live  in  an  atmos- 
phere that  is  tainted  by  exhalations  from  putrefying 
organic  matter,  without  danger  of  being  made  sick 
• —  sick  unto  death.  It  is  true  that  not  all  of  those 
who  live  in  such  an  atmosphere  either  fall  sick  or 
die  from  its  effects ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  not  all 
who  go  into  battle  are  shot  down.  In  both  cases 
they  expose  themselves  to  dangers  from  which  their 
escape  is  a  matter  of  good  fortune.  Fewer  would 
oe  shot  if  none  went  into  battle,  and  fewer  would 
iie  of  disease  if  none  were  exposed  to  poisoned  air 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF   DRAUAGE.  23 

Our  adaptability  is  great,  and  we  accustom  ourselves 
to  withstand  the  attacks  of  an  infected  atmosphere 
wonderfully  well ;  but  for  all  that,  we  are  constantly 
in  the  presence  of  the  danger,  and  though  insensibly 
resisting,  are  too  often  insensibly  yielding  to  it. 
Some,  with  less  power  to  resist,  or  exposed  to  a 
stronger  poison,  or  finally  weakened  by  long  expos- 
are,  fall  sick  with  typhoid  fever  or  some  similar 
disease,  that  springs  directly  from  putrid  infection. 
Of  these,  a  portion  die ;  the  community  loses  their 
services,  and  it  sympathizes  with  their  friends  in 
mourning  that,  "  in  the  wisdom  of  a  kind  but  in- 
scrutable Providence,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to 
remove  them  from  our  midst." 

In  this  way  we  blandly  impose  upon  Divine  Provi- 
dence the  responsibility  of  our  own  short-comings. 
The  victims  of  typhoid  fever  die,  not  by  the  act 
of  God,  but  by  the  act  of  man  ;  they  are  poisoned 
to  death  by  infections  that  are  due  to  man's  igno- 
rance or  neglect. 

Pettenkofer  states  that,  so  far  as  the  city  of  Mu- 
nich is  concerned,  typhoid  epidemics  bear  in  their 
frequency  or  rarity  a  certain  fixed  relation  to 
changes  in  the  soil,  which  can  only  be  surmised, 
but  which  correspond  with  the  differences  of  ele- 
vation of  the  water-table,  or  line  of  saturation  in 
the  soil.  The  greatest  mortality  coincides  with  the 
lowest  state  of  the  water-table,  and  the  least  mor- 
f;ality  with  the  approach  of  this  to  the  surface  ai 
th  >  ground. 


24      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

Fifteen  years'  observation  showed  that  the  preva- 
lence of  typhoid  was  indicated  by  the  water-level  in 
the  wells.  This  careful  investigator  believes  that 
the  cause  of  the  disease  exists  not  in  the  water,  but 
in  the  soil ;  that  it  is  due  to  certain  "  organic  proc- 
esses "  in  the  earth. 

The  English  investigators  say  that  when  the  water 
in  the  well  is  low,  its  area  of  drainage  is  extended, 
and  it  draws  typhoid  poison  from  a  greater  dis- 
tance. 

Neither  of  these  theories  is  inconsistent  with  the 
hypothesis  that  the  disease  is  due  to  organic  matter 
reaching  the  soil  from  house-drains,  cess-pools,  etc., 
and  finally  either  carried  into  the  well  to  poison  the 
drinking-water  to  a  degree  that  becomes  apparent 
when,  during  drought,  it  is  reduced  to  a  small  quan- 
tity, and  its  impurities  are  concentrated,  or  else  left 
in  the  soil  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  water,  and 
there  exposed  in  such  quantities  to  the  action  of  the 
permeating  air  that  poisonous  gases  are  generated 
by  their  decomposition. 

Professor  S.  \V.  Johnson,  of  the  Sheffield  Scien- 
tific School,  at  Yale  College,  in  a  paper  on  the 
Earth  Closet,  says :  "  The  use  of  open  vaults  or 
water-closets  emptying  in  cess-pools  tends  to  fill  up 
the  soil  with  fsecal  matter.  A  single  vault  poisons  a 
circumscribed  space  around  it.  External  to  this 
imit  the  filth  is  destroyed  by  the  action  of  the  oxy- 
gen of  the  air,  which  is  the  great  purifier.  Within 
the  limit  named,  the  animal  matters  preponderate 
either  constantly  or  at  some  period  of  the  year 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  25 

They  may  long  remain  simply  disagreeable  without 
being  dangerous,  and  may  again,  of  a  sudden,  in  a 
way  whose  details  have  as  yet  escaped  investigation, 
become  the  seed-bed  or  the  nursery  of  the  infection 
that  breaks  out  in  fevers  and  dysentery.  The  dan- 
ger increases  as  the  quantity  of  filth  and  the  number 
of  its  receptacles  increase.  To  cover  them  up  does 
not  necessarily  remove  the  evil.  The  putrid  mat- 
ters soak  into  the  soil,  and  move  upward  and  down- 
ward in  it  with  the  motion  of  the  soil-water.  When 
we  have  copious  rains,  they  are  carried  down  per- 
haps to  nearly  the  level  of  the  water  in  our  wells. 
In  the  heat  and  drought  of  August,  these  matters 
rise  again.  In  the  absence  of  rain,  the  rapid  drying 
of  the  surface  creates  an  upward  capillary  flow  of 
the  ground-water.  The  matters  which  in  rainy 
times  follow  the  surface-water  to  the  depths,  in 
drought  follow  the  ground-water  to  the  surface." 

It  is  very  clear  that  no  system  yet  applied  has 
been  so  generally  efficient  in  lessening  and  weaken- 
ing the  attacks  of  typhoid  as  the  English  system  of 
water  supply  and  impervious  drainage,  which  gives 
drinking-water  free  from  contamination,  and  leaves 
the  air  uivtainted  by  the  decomposition  of  organic 
matters  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  dwellings. 

Whether  the  London  theory  or  the  Munich  theory 
be  correct,  the  general  result  of  all  investigations 
•hows  that  typhoid  fever  stands  in  a  certain  relation 
to  the  amount  of  neglected  filth  permitted  to  poison 
•*-ater  and  air. 

The  Massachusetts  Board  of  Health  published  in 


26      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   ANT)   TOWNS. 

1871  a  copious  report  on  the  causes  of  typhoid  as 
occurring  in  that  State.  It  concludes  that  the  prop- 
agation of  the  fever  is  occasioned  by  a  poison  "  aa 
definite  as  that  which  causes  vaccine  disease  ; "  and 
divides  the  means  of  propagation  under  three  heads : 
first,  drinking-water  made  foul  by  the  decomposi- 
tion of  any  organic  matter,  whether  animal  or  vege- 
table, and  specially  by  the  presence  in  such  water  of 
excrementitious  matters  discharged  from  the  bodies 
of  those  suffering  from  typhoid  fever ;  second,  prop- 
agation by  air  contaminated  by  any  form  of  filth, 
and  specially  by  privies,  cess-pools,  pig-sties,  ma- 
nure-heaps, rotten  vegetables  in  cellars,  and  leaky 
or  obstructed  drains  ;  third,  emanations  from  the 
earth,  occurring  specially  in  the  autumnal  months 
and  in  seasons  of  drought. 

The  agency  of  tainted  water  was  enunciated  by 
Canstatt,  in  Germany,  in  1847,  and  many  later 
medical  writers  have  confirmed  the  theory. 

So  far  as  Massachusetts  towns  are  concerned,  the 
contamination  of  wells,  though  a  prominent,  was 
not  found  to  be  a  preeminent  cause  of  typhoid  ;  nu- 
merous instances  show  this  to  have  been  active,  but 
other  causes,  such  as  foul  drains,  sewer-gas,  etc.,  are 
more  important.  It  appears  that  the  attack  is  more 
frequently  received  through  the  lungs  than  through 
the  intestines.  While  it  may  be  necessary  that  a 
marked  quantity  of  impurity  should  exist  in  drink- 
ing-water before  it  can  do  us  harm,  an  extremely 
small  proportion  of  impurity  in  air  is  greatly  to  o« 
apprehended,  for  we  drink  but  a  comparative!} 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF   DRAINAGE.  27 

small  amount  of  water,  while  we  inhale,  every 
twenty-four  hours,  from  one  to  two  thousand  gal- 
lons of  air.  At  the  same  time,  the  evidence  of  the 
communication  of  disease  by  tainted  drinking  water 
is  strong  and  unmistakable,  not  only  in  Massachu- 
setts, but  elsewhere. 

There  has  recently  been  an  excitement  in  Lon- 
don concerning  the  condition  of  town  pumps,  espe- 
cially of  the  celebrated  Aldgate  pump  in  the  city, 
which  has  finally  been  ordered  closed. 

The  following  quotation,1  describing  the  condition 
of  this  pump,  is  given  in  illustration  of  what  nas  so 
often  been  said  concerning  the  peculiarly  pleasant 
character  of  well  water  to  the  influence  of  which 
disease  has  been  distinctly  traced  :  — 

"  The  purity  of  the  water  of  Aldgate  pump  is  a 
firmly  rooted  tradition  in  the  minds  of  many  of  the 
citizens,  and  especially  of  the  poorer  denizens  of  the 
East  End.  So  great  a  hold,  indeed,  has  this  belief, 
that  a  great  many  of  them  consider  that  a  morning 
draught  of  spring  water  from  Aldgate  pump  is  a 
sovereign  remedy  for  many  ailments,  and  send  for 
the  water  very  religiously  when  they  feel  *  out  of 
sorts.'  There  is  much  in  the  flavor  and  appearance 
of  the  water  which  explains  this  belief.  It  is  clear, 
sparkling,  and  has  that  cool  saline  flavor  which  is 
io  very  agreeable  to  the  palate,  and  which  is  harm- 
less enough  when  the  saline  ingredients  are  not 
accompanied  by  organic  taint.  In  this  case,  how- 
ever, the  analysis  which  we  have  had  made  by  Pro 

1  Sanitary  Record 


28      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

fessor  Wanklyn,  and  of  which  we  iast  week  gave 
the  details,  shows  that  this  cool  refreshing  flavor  is 
due  to  the  impregnation  of  the  water  with  salts 
derived  from  decomposing  sewage  which  evidently 
finds  its  way  into  the  well,  partially  filtered  and  de- 
composed by  the  surrounding  soil.  The  soil  itself  is 
evidently  loaded  with  organic  matter,  and  does  not 
form  an  efficient  filter ;  thus  the  water  is  polluted 
with  a  considerable  amount  of  organic  matter." 

Anent  this  pump,  Punch  had  the  following  squib 
at  the  time  of  the  recent  panic  concerning  Turkish 
and  Egyptian  bonds  :  — 

"  GENERAL  SHUT  UP. 
"  (Aldgate  pump  included.) 
"O'er  'Change  still  hangs  the  fatal  spell; 
Clerics  and  spinsters  Turkish  sell; 
Egyptian  drafts,  too,  downward  jump, 
And  none  may  draw  on  Aldgate  pump." 

Mr.  William  Eassie,  writing  upon  the  sanitation 
of  houses,  says  :  — 

"  The  author  had  occasion  lately  to  suspect,  from 
its  very  sparkling  character,  the  water  taken  from 
a  well  in  a  very  healthy  looking  position,  which 
supplied  several  families  and  a  large  dairy,  and  had 
the  water  analyzed.  Professor  Wanklyn's  report 
upon  it  was  that  it  was  absolutely  poisonous,  and 
then  it  was  found  that  the  constant  drinkers  of  thia 
water  had  long  been  suffering  from  a  skin  disease 
*nquiry  also  revealed  that  a  farm  steading  had  for- 
merly stood  there,  and  we  can  guess  what  these 
used  to  be  in  the  olden  time,  and  that  the  subsoi 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  29 

iras,  therefore,  full  of  impurities.  No  amount  of 
filtering  could  render  water  of  this  kind  pure.  Fil- 
ters can  be  made  useful,  without  doubt,  but  even 
they  must  be  examined  periodically,  and  a  proper 
material  chosen.  He  had  an  analysis  made  of  some 
water  drawn  at  the  butler's  pantry  in  a  nobleman's 
house,  and  it  was  proved  that  the  filter  in  use,  with 
its  impure  animal  charcoal  contents,  actually  ren- 
dered a  pure  supply  from  the  mains  unfit  to  drink." 

There  is  reason  to  suspect  the  poison  to  be  some- 
times, if  not  quite  generally,  odorless,  and  the  dan- 
ger seems  to  be  the  greatest  where  the  natural 
process  of  decomposition  is  secluded  from  air  and 
light.  The  decay  of  vegetables  in  dark  and  un ven- 
tilated cellars,  and  of  house  wastes  or  street  wash 
in  unventilated  sewers,  are  especially  to  be  feared. 

In  the  town  of  Pittsfield,  when  the  board  of 
health  assiduously  attended  to  the  removal  of  all 
nuisances,  there  was  a  very  decided  falling  off  in 
the  number  of  cases  of  typhoid  fever. 

Derby  says  :  "  Whether  the  vehicle  be  drinking- 
water  made  foul  by  human  excrement,  sink  drains, 
or  soiled  clothing,  or  air  made  foul  in  inclosed  places 
by  drains,  decaying  vegetables  or  fish,  or  old  tim- 
ber ;  or,  in  open  places,  by  pig-sties,  drained  ponds 
or  reservoirs,  stagnant  water,  or  accumulations  oi 
filth  of  every  sort,  —  the  one  thing  present  in  all 
these  circumstances  is  decomposition." 

If  anything  has  been  clearly  proven  with  refer 
ence  to  the  whole  subject,  it  is  that  nearly  all  of 
che  causes  of  typhoid  fever  are  strictly  within  hu- 
man control. 


80      SAN1TAKY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

Dr.  Grimshaw  regards  simple  fever  as  an  abortive 
attempt  at  either  typhus  or  typhoid,  the  one  arising 
from  decomposing  sewage  and  the  other  from  over 
crowding,  and  thus  ascribes  even  slight  fevers  al- 
most invariably  to  unsanitary  conditions.  A  War- 
wickshire medical  officer  of  health  firmly  believes 
that  typhoid  is  far  from  wrongly  named  by  Dr. 
Murchison,  "  pythogenic,"  for  that  it  cannot  only 
be  fostered,  but  be  produced,  de  novo,  by  decom- 
posing organic  matter,  and  in  most  if  not  all  of  Dr. 
Armistead's  cases,  foul  water  or  other  unsanitary 
surroundings  appear  to  have  been  present  in  greater 
or  less  amounts. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  an  eminent  physician  of  the 
last  century,  was  so  satisfied  that  the  means  of 
preventing  pestilential  fevers  are  "  as  much  under 
the  power  of  human  reason  and  industry  as  the 
means  of  preventing  the  evils  of  lightning  or  com- 
mon fire,"  that  he  looked  for  the  time  when  the  law 
should  punish  cities  and  villages  "  for  permitting 
any  sources  of  malignant  or  bilious  fevers  to  exist 
within  their  jurisdiction." 

No  dense  population  can  hope  to  escape  recurrent 
pestilential  diseases,  unless  the  inhabited  area  is 
kept  habitually  free  from  the  dejections  and  other 
organic  wastes  of  the  population. 

The  instance  of  the  "  Maplewood  "  young  ladies' 
school,  at  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  has  been  so 
often  quoted  in  sanitary  writings  during  the  past 
ten  years,  that  it  must  seem  almost  an  old  story  to 
those  who  are  familiar  with  the  literature  of  th« 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  31 

subject ;  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  such  a  striking 
instance  of  the  possibilities  of  the  evils  with  which 
we  are  contending,  that  it  can  never  lose  its  in- 
terest, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  may  always 
remain  the  worst  instance  of  its  sort  in  our  coun- 
try's record. 

The  house  was  a  large  one,  built  of  wood,  closely 
surrounded  by  trees,  with  a  foul  barn-yard  near  it, 
containing  water  in  which  swine  wallowed,  and 
emitting  offensive  odors.  The  cellar  of  the  centre 
main  building  was  used  for  storing  vegetables,  and 
its  private  closets  connected  by  closed  corridors  with 
the  main  halls  of  the  building.  The  kitchen  drain 
opened  eighty  or  ninety  feet  away  from  the  build- 
ing. The  vaults  of  the  private  closets  were  shallow 
and  filled  nearly  to  the  surface  with  semi-fluid  ma- 
terial (they  received  the  slops  from  the  sleeping- 
rooms).  The  house  seems  to  have  been  beset  with 
danger  on  every  side,  and  it  was  often  necessary,  in 
the  heat  of  summer  to  close  the  windows,  to  keep 
out  offensive  odors.  The  whole  case  was  examined 
after  the  attack  by  Drs.  Palmer,  Ford,  and  Earle, 
of  the  Berkshire  Medical  College,  and  they  took,  so 
far  as  possible,  the  testimony  of  every  member  of 
the  household  and  of  the  relatives  of  those  who  had 
died  after  being  removed  to  their  homes.  Theii 
investigation  fixed  the  origin  of  the  Maplewood 
F<3ver  (which  was  clearly  marked  typhoid)  unques- 
tionably upon  the  unhealthfulness  of  the  air  of 
ihe  house,  made  impure  by  the  causes  above  spec* 
ified. 


32      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

This  Maplewood  fever  is  one  of  the  most  fatal 
ever  recorded.  Of  seventy-four  resident  pupils 
heard  from,  sixty-six,  or  nearly  ninety  per  cent, 
had  illness  of  some  sort,  and  fifty-one,  or  nearly 
sixty -nine  per  cent.,  had  well-marked  typhoid  fever. 
Of  the  whole  family  of  one  hundred  and  twelve 
persons,  fifty-six  had  typhoid  fever,  and  of  these 
fifty-six,  sixteen  died.  These  proportions  applied 
to  the  eight  thousand  people  living  in  Pittsfield 
would  have  given  four  thousand  cases  of  typhoid 
fever  within  the  space  of  a  few  weeks,  and  of  these 
eleven  hundred  and  forty  would  have  died.  The 
:utbreak  was,  however,  so  entirely  local,  that  some 
physicians  in  Pittsfield  had  no  cases,  and  others 
only  two  or  three.  The  Maplewood  fever  was  a 
sudden  explosion.  It  broke  up  the  school  in  a  very 
short  time,  and  the  pupils  scattered  to  their  homes, 
where,  under  the  influence  of  pure  air,  many  recov- 
ered. 

Dr.  Palmer  says  of  this  epidemic,  "  Before  the  in- 
vestigation, the  matter  was  spoken  of  as  the  act  of 
a  mysterious  Providence,  to  whose  rulings  all  must 
submit.  Looking  with  the  eye  of  science  upon  the 
overflowing  cess-pools  and  reeking  sewers  as  inevi- 
table causes,  and  with  the  eye  of  humanity  upon  the 
interesting  and  innocent  victims  languishing  in  pain 
and  peril,  or  moldering  in  their  shrouds,  I  could  but 
regard  such  implications  of  Providence,  though  per* 
haps  sincerely  made,  as  next  to  blasphemy,  espe» 
cially  when  uttered  by  the  agents  who  were  to  b« 
held  responsible  ;  —  though  the  prayer  of  charity 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  33 

might  have  been,  '  Father,  forgive  them,  they  know 
not  what  they  do.'  " 

The  sanitary  reforms  recommended  by  the  exam- 
ining physicians  being  carried  out,  Maplewood  be 
came,  and  still  remains,  free  from  malarial  disease. 

Dr.  John  L.  Leconte,  in  reporting  his  inspection 
of  a  school  in  Burlington,  New  Jersey  (St.  Mary's 
Hall),  where  there  had  been  a  serious  outbreak  of 
typhoid,  says  that  the  water  supply  was  taken  from 
fcwo  rain -water  cisterns,  in  building  which,  as  their 
bottoms  were  below  the  level  of  the  soil  water, 
a  hole  was  left  open  to  relieve  the  pressure  while 
the  cement  was  hardening.  These  holes  were 
plugged,  and  the  water  supply  was  made  to  de- 
pend entirely  upon  the  river.  A  year  later,  the 
plugs  were  removed,  bringing  the  cisterns  into 
communication  with  the  soil  water.  Some  time  aft- 
erwards, privy  vaults  were  dug,  one  of  them  only 
ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  cisterns,  and  although 
these  were  supposed  to  be  tightly  made,  the  soil 
(after  three  years)  became  poisoned  with  the  efflu- 
via and  infiltrations,  and  the  water  from  the  cis- 
terns became  contaminated.  The  disuse  of  these 
cisterns  was  advised  on  the  18th  of  December,  1874, 
the  water  being  taken  directly  from  the  river.  Ten 
days  later,  the  last  case  of  typhoid  fever  occurred, 
and  the  school  has  since  that  tims  been  quite  free 
irom  all  similar  diseases. 

Although  many  of  the  pupils  were  attacked,  the 
servants  escaped  entirely,  and  it  was  found  that 
they  had  drank  no  unboiled  water,  using  only  tea 


34   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  ASD  TOWNS. 

and  coffee.  Among  the  pupils  it  was  found  that  oi 
seven  who  drank  only  water,  six  had  been  attacked 
with  typhoid. 

Dr.  Leconte  makes  the  following  capital  recom- 
mendations   for   the    prevention    of    zymotic    dis- 


"1.  Before  the  plans  of  the  building  are  fully 
matured,  let  an  expert  in  sanitary  studies  be  em- 
ployed to  give  directions  to  the  architect  in  all  that 
relates  to  ventilation,  drainage,  and  water  supply. 

"  2.  After  the  building  is  completed,  no  altera- 
tions should  be  made  affecting  these  three  essentials 
of  good  hygienic  condition  without  the  suggestion 
of  a  practiced  sanitarian. 

"  3.  There  should  be  stated  inspections,  say  twice 
a  year,  of  each  institution  by  some  sanitarian  of  ac- 
knowledged merit,  who,  after  close  examination  and 
the  correction  of  any  defect,  would  give  a  certificate 
to  be  published  in  the  circular  or  announcement  of 
the  school. 

"  4.  On  the  outbreak  of  any  zymotic  disease  in 
the  institution,  the  advice  of  a  sanitarian  expert 
should  at  once  be  obtained,  in  order  that  means 
may  be  taken  for  its  restriction,  suppression,  and 
prevention." 

A  century  ago  epidemic  diseases  carried  with 
them  only  calamity,  not  culpability ;  but  now,  when 
their  occurrence  is  chargeable  to  willful  ignorance 
or  to  wicked  neglect,  Dr.  Rush's  prophecy  should 
be  fulfilled  and  the  law  should  hold  the  community 
responsible  for  every  death  permitted  to  occui 


SANITARY  RELATIONS  OF  DRAINAGE.      35 

from  preventable  disease  within  the  area  that  it 
controls. 

Dr.  Anstie,  in  his  "  Notes  on  Epidemics,"  aftei 
describing  the  fouling  of  wells  by  the  escape  of  cess- 
pool matter,  and  the  fouling  of  the  interior  air  oi 
houses  by  reason  of  imperfect  drain-traps,  says :  — 

"  In  short,  all  observers  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  it  would  be  possible,  by  rendering  our  drinking 
water  absolutely  pure,  and  by  disinfecting  our  sew- 
age at  the  earliest  moment,  entirely,  or  almost  en- 
tirely, to  suppress  typhoid  fever." 

Dr.  John  Simon,  in  his  Report  of  1874  (as  medi- 
cal officer  of  health  to  the  Privy  Council),  says  :  — 

"  Whether  the  ferments  of  disease,  if  they  could 
be  isolated  in  sufficient  quantity,  would  prove  them- 
selves in  any  degree  odorous,  is  a  point  on  which  no 
guess  needs  be  hazarded ;  but  it  is  certain  that  in 
doses  in  which  they  can  fatally  infect  the  human 
body  they  are  infinitely  out  of  reach  of  even  the 
most  cultivated  sense  of  smell,  and  that  this  sense 
(though  its  positive  warnings  are  of  indispensable 
sanitary  service)  is  not  able,  except  by  indirect  and 
quite  insufficient  perceptions,  to  warn  us  against 
risks  of  morbid  infection." 

"  The  ferments,  so  far  as  we  know  them,  show  no 
power  of  active  diffusion  in  dry  air :  diffusing  in  it 
only  as  they  are  passively  wafted,  and  then,  proba- 
bly, if  the  air  be  freely  open,  not  carrying  their 
ritality  far ;  but,  as  moisture  is  their  nomal  me- 
dium, currents  of  humid  air  (as  from  sewers  and 


86      SANITARY   FBA1NAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND    TOWNS. 

drains)  can  doubtless  lift  them  in  their  full  effect- 
iveness, and,  if  into  houses  or  confined  exterior 
spaces,  then  with  their  chief  chances  of  remaining 
effective ;  and  ill-ventilated,  low-lying  localities,  if 
unclean  as  regards  the  removal  of  their  refuse,  may 
especially  be  expected  to  have  these  ferments  pres- 
ent in  their  common  atmosphere,  as  well  as  of 
course  teeming  in  their  soil  and  ground-water. 

"  Medical  knowledge  in  support  of  this  presump- 
tion has  of  late  been  rapidly  growing  more  positive 
and  precise  ;  and  at  the  moment  of  my  present 
writing,  I  have  the  gratification  of  believing  that 
under  my  Lords  of  the  Council  it  has  received  an 
increase  which  may  be  of  critical  importance,  in  a 
discovery  which  seems  to  give  us  for  the  first  time 
an  ocular  test  of  the  contagium  of  enteric  fever  :  in 
the  discovery,  namely,  of  microscopical  forms,  ap- 
parently of  the  lowest  vegetable  life,  multiplying  to 
innumerable  swarms  in  the  intestinal  tissues  of  the 
sick,  penetrating  on  the  one  hand  from  the  mucous 
surface  into  the  general  system  of  the  patient,  and 
contributing  on  the  other  hand,  with  whatever  in- 
fective power  they  represent,  to  the  bowel-contents 
which  have  presently  to  pass  forth  from  him.  Ad- 
verting then  summarily,  in  an  administrative  point 
of  view,  to  the  present  state  of  medical  knowledge 
and  opinion  as  to  the  way  in  which  enteric  fever 
spreads  its  infection  in  this  country,  I  would  say 
that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive,  in  regard  to  any  causa* 
tion  of  disease  in  a  civilized  community,  any  phys- 
\c&\  picture  more  loathsome  than  that  which  is  her* 


SANITARY    RELATIONS    OF   DRAINAGE.  37 

suggested ;  that  apparently,  of  all  the  diseases  at- 
tributable to  filth,  this,  as  an  administrative  scandal, 
may  be  proclaimed  as  the  very  type  and  quintes- 
sence ;  that,  though  sometimes  by  covert  processes 
which  I  will  hereafter  explain,  yet  far  oftener  in 
the  most  glaring  way,  it  apparently  has  an  invari- 
able source  in  that  which  of  filth  is  the  filthiest ; 
that  apparently  its  infection  runs  its  course,  as  with 
successive  inoculations  from  man  to  man,  by  instru- 
mentality of  the  molecules  of  excrement  which 
man's  filthiness  lets  mingle  in  his  air,  and  food, 
and  drink." 

Dr.  Austin  Flint  says :  "  Typhoid  fever  is  very 
rarely  if  ever  communicated  by  means  of  emana- 
tions from  the  bodies  of  patients  affected  with  the 
disease.  It  does  not  spread  from  cases  in  hospitals 
to  fellow-patients,  nurses,  and  medical  attendants. 
Isolated  cases  are  numerous,  occurring  under  cir- 
cumstances which  preclude  the  possibility  of  con- 
tagion. Its  special  cause  may  be  a  product  of  the 
decomposition  of  collections  of  human  excrement." 

Dr.  Simon,  speaking  of  the  action  of  infective 
matters  on  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  intestinal 
canal,  says :  — 

"  Whether  they  have  been  breathed,  or  drunk,  or 
eaten,  or  sucked  up  into  the  blood-vessels  from  the 
surface  of  foul  sores,  or  directly  injected  into  blood- 
vessels by  the  physiological  experimenter,  there  pe- 
culiarly the  effect  may  be  looked  for  :  just  as  wine, 
however  administered,  would  '  get  into  the  head,'  so 
the  septic  ferment,  whencesoever  it  may  have  en- 


38      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

tered  the  blood,  is  apt  to  find  its  way  thence  to  the 
bowels,  and  there,  as  universal  result,  to  produca 
diarrhoea."  He  believes  that  typhoid  fever  is  a 
"  specific  diarrhoea,"  and  that  every  discharge  from 
the  bowels  of  the  patient  must  teem  with  the  con- 
tagium  of  the  disease. 

Dr.  Flint  investigated  an  outbreak  of  typhoid 
fever  in  a  village  in  Western  New  York,  in  1843. 
No  case  of  typhoid  fever  had  ever  been  known  in 
the  county.  The  community  numbered  forty-three 
persons ;  twenty-eight  of  these  were  attacked  with 
fever,  and  ten  died.  All  of  those  affected  obtained 
their  drinking  water  from  a  well  adjoining  the  tav- 
ern ;  but  one  family,  living  in  the  midst  of  the  in- 
fected neighborhood,  owing  to  a  feud  with  the 
tavern-keeper,  did  not  use  this  water,  and  escaped 
infection.  Two  families  lived  too  far  away  to  use 
this  well.  This  immunity  on  the  part  of  the  enemy 
of  the  tavern-keeper  led  to  a  charge  that  he  had 
maliciously  poisoned  the  well,  a  charge  which  re- 
sulted in  a  suit  for  slander  and  the  payment  of  one 
hundied  dollars  damages.  At  this  time  the  idea 
that  typhoid  fever  might  be  communicated  by  in- 
fected drinking-water  had  not  been  advanced,  but  its 
truth  receives  strong  confirmation  from  the  fact  that 
a  passenger,  coming  from  a  town  in  Massachusetts 
where  typhoid  prevailed,  and  traveling  westward 
in  a  stage-coach,  having  been  taken  ill,  was  obliged 
to  stop  at  this  tavern.  Twenty-eight  days  after  hia 
arrival  he  died  of  typhoid  fever,  and  thus,  doubt 
'ess,  communicated  in  some  way  to  the  water  of  thil 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  39 

well  the  germs  of  the  disease,  which  speedily  at- 
tacked every  family  in  the  town,  except  the  three 
which  did  not  resort  to  it  for  their  supply.  Dr. 
Flint  states  it  as  his  opinion  that  "  in  typhoid  fever 
the  contagion  is  in  the  dejections,  and  this  fever 
may  be,  and  generally  is  caused  by  a  morbific  mat- 
ter produced  in  decomposing  excrement  from  healthy 
bodies."  And  he  believes  that  "the  spontaneous 
occurrence  of  this  disease  is  to  be  avoided  by  a  com- 
plete precaution  against  the  pollution  of  water  or 
air  by  the  dejecta  from  healthy  persons." 

In  the  summer  vacation  of  1874,  ten  students 
from  Oxford  went  on  a  reading  party  to  a  rural  re- 
treat in  Cornwall,  which  was  recommended  as  of 
undoubted  healthfulness  and  of  quiet  seclusion. 
They  fell  into  a  fever  trap.  The  water  and  the 
soil  of  this  village  were  polluted  until  it  equaled 
the  worst  slums  of  Liverpool.  Detecting  the  sani- 
tary short-comings  of  their  retiring-place,  they  beat 
a  hasty  retreat,  but  they  carried  with  them  the 
germs  of  the  disease,  and  before  many  days  six  of 
the  party  were  down  with  typhoid  fever ;  one  has 
*ince  died. 

Dr.  Alfred  Haviland  gives  an  instance  in  which 
in  Uppingham,  in  England,  an  epidemic  of  typhoid 
fever  originated  in  a  house  of  the  best  class :  — 

"  Though  the  house  itself  in  which  the  fever  first 
showed  itself  is  a  splendid  mansion,  the  architect 
seems  to  have  altogether  forgotten  to  provide  for 
the  health  of  its  inmates.  Gigantic  cess-pools  were 
01  close  relation  to  the  water  supply,  and  every  ar- 


10   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

rangement  was  made  for  the  pollution  of  the  air  by 
regurgitation  of  gases  from  the  water-closet." 

The  local  government  board  of  England  lately 
deputed  Dr.  Thome  to  investigate  an  outbreak  of 
typhoid  at  Brierly.  He  found  that  the  spread  of 
the  fever  was  due  to  the  poisonous  dejecta  of  the 
patients.  Wherever  those  dejecta  went,  poison  and 
disease  went  also.  The  original  case  was  in  the 
person  of  a  dairy-man,  and  was  of  a  mild  type ;  but 
it  was  followed  by  two  other  cases  in  the  same 
house,  and,  by  the  tainting  of  the  milk  vessels,  the 
infection  was  carried  to  thirty-eight  houses  in  the 
village,  in  twenty-three  of  which  the  fever  ap- 
peared. From  these  centres  it  spread  by  excre- 
mental  contamination  until  nearly  the  whole  village 
was  attacked.  Dr.  Thorne  "  wished  it  to  be  dis- 
tinctly understood  that  he  by  no  means  attributed 
all  the  cases  occurring  to  the  use  of  milk  from  the 
infected  dairy ;  for  when  once  the  disease  was 
started  another  powerful  means  for  distributing  it 
came  into  operation ; "  and  he  proceeds  to  show  a 
very  defective  condition  of  the  vaults  and  drains. 
His  irresistible  conclusion  was  that  the  outbreak 
had  been  due,  primarily,  to  the  use  of  milk  from  an 
infected  dairy,  and  that  bad  drainage  and  bad  dis- 
posal of  excrement  had  done  the  rest. 

Dr.  Duncan,  in  his  work  on  typhoid  fever,  speaks 
of  Crossbill,  a  suburb  of  Glasgow,  where  for  three 
years  preceding  1875  the  average  death-rate  wa* 
only  seventeen  per  thousand ;  that  of  the  city  itseL 
iuring  the  same  period  being  thirty  per  thousand 


SANITARY  RELATIONS  OF  DRAINAGE.      41 

In  1874  there  was  no  death  from  typhoid  in  Cross- 
hill.  From  January  18  to  April  20,  1875,  there 
were  twenty-four  deaths  in  connection  with  this 
epidemic.  From  January  18,  when  the  epidemic 
began,  until  March  31,  when  it  ended,  there  had 
occurred  two  hundred  and  eighty  cases  in  Crossbill 
and  its  neighborhood.  This  outbreak  was  distinctly 
*•  traced  to  milk  coining  from  a  farm  where  the  fam- 
ily was  down  with  typhoid  fever.  Dr.  Duncan 
attended  sixty-eight  cases,  sixty -four  of  which  could 
be  traced  directly  to  the  tainted  dairy ;  the  other 
four  were  smitten  late  in  the  epidemic,  and  had 
been  visiting  and  drinking  in  infected  houses. 

During  the  autumn  of  1874  there  was  an  out- 
break of  typhoid  fever  in  the  town  of  Lewes,  about 
four  hundred  and  fifty  cases  occurring.  The  town 
i»  divided  into  three  sections,  each  having  its  own 
water  supply,  and  the  disease  was  confined  almost 
entirely  to  the  division  supplied  by  the  Lewes 
Water  Works  Company.  This  company  furnished 
an  intermittent  supply  of  water,  the  head  being 
turned  on  for  three  or  four  hours  in  the  morning 
,uid  for  the  same  time  in  the  afternoon.  When  the 
head  is  taken  off,  the  pipes  empty  themselves,  suck- 
ing in  air  at  every  opening.  Examination  showed 
that  there  were  many  water-closets,  some  of  them 
used  by  fever  patients,  which  were  supplied  by 
pipes  leading  directly  from  the  water-mains  into 
the  soil-pan,  and  that  it  was  a  common  habit  tc 
leave  the  taps  open  so  that  the  closets  should  be 
Bushed  whenever  the  water  was  turned  on.  There 


42      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND    TOWNS. 

were  leaks  in  some  of  the  old  mains,  and  many  of 
these  were  laid  in  soil  fouled  with  the  overflow  of 
vaults.  In  one  case  a  leak  was  found  in  a  water- 
main  where  it  passed  through  a  sewer.  The  lead 
service-pipes  of  -houses  were  frequently  honey- 
combed, especially  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
vaults,  and  in  one  case  a  leak  was  found  directly 
under  a  vault.  In  seeking  for  this  while  the 
was  subsiding  in  the  mains,  the  opening  was  ex- 
posed, and  the  whole  contents  of  the  vault  were 
sucked  into  the  water-pipe.  In  short,  on  every 
occasion  of  the  subsiding  of  the  water  supply,  air 
was  drawn  in  violently  at  every  opening,  and  the 
pipes  thus  received  air  contaminated  by  closets  and 
vaults,  and  air  from  within  a  public  sewer ;  indeed, 
in  some  cases  at  least,  particles  of  excrement  were 
drawn  in  from  closet  pans.  In  one  section  of  the 
town  only  sixty  houses  out  of  a  total  of  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty-four  were  supplied  by  the  water- 
works company,  and  in  this  section,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  two  infants,  every  case  of  typhoid  fever 
occurred  in  these  sixty  houses,  to  the  total  exclusion 
»f  the  other  three  hundred  and  ninety-four.  Even 
after  the  epidemic  became  rife,  and  there  were 
many  other  means  for  its  extension,  it  was  found 
that  twenty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  town-water 
houses  had  been  attacked,  and  only  six  per  cent  of 
all  the  others. 

There  has  recently  been  an  investigation  into  the 
origin  of  an  outbreak  of  "  filth  fever "  in  Over* 
Darwen,  England,  the  origin  of  which  for  a  long 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  43 

time  eluded  the  careful  search  of  the  authorities. 
It  was  finally  worked  out  by  a  sanitary  officer  dis- 
patched from  London.  The  first  case  was  an  im- 
ported one,  occurring  in  a  house  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  the  town.  The  patient  had  con- 
tracted the  disease,  came  home,  and  died  with  it. 
On  first  inquiry  it  was  stated  that  the  town  derived 
its  water  supply  from  a  distance,  and  that  the  water 
was  brought  by  covered  channels  and  could  not 
possibly  have  been  polluted  by  the  excreta  from 
this  case.  Further  examination  showed  that  the 
drain  of  the  closet  into  which  the  excreta  of  this 
patient  were  passed  emptied  itself  through  chan- 
nels used  for  the  irrigation  of  a  neighboring  field. 
The  water-main  of  the  town  passed  through  this 
field,  and  although  special  precautions  had  been 
taken  to  prevent  any  infiltration  of  sewage  into  the 
main,  it  was  found  that  the  concrete  had  sprung  a 
leak  and  allowed  the  contents  of  the  drain  to  be 
sucked  freely  into  the  water-pipe.  The  poison  was 
regularly  thrown  down  the  drain,  and  as  regularly 
passed  into  the  water-main  of  the  town.  This  out- 
break had  a  ferocity  that  attracted  universal  atten- 
tion ;  within  a  very  short  period  two  thousand  and 
thirty-five  people  were  attacked,  and  one  hundred 
and  four  died.  The  report  of  this  investigation 
closes  as  follows :  "  If  an  inquest  were  held  on 
every  case  of  death  from  typhoid  fever,  as  we  have 
long  contended  there  should  oe,  a  similar  relation  of 
fatal  effect  to  preventable  cause  could  nearly  always 
be  traced,  and  may  always  safely  be  presumed." 


i4   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWN*. 

Thus  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  sub- 
ject of  typhoid  fever  because  it  is  universally  rec- 
ognized as  the  typical  pythogenic  disease,  and  the 
most  prominent  of  those  which  are  believed  to  be 
entirely  preventable  by  human  agency. 

The  recent  great  prevalence  of  a  very  fatal  form 
of  diphtheria  in  New  York,  under  conditions  whidb 
seem  to  connect  its  origin  with  the  escape  of  sewer 
gas  into  houses,  brings  it  conspicuously  into  the 
same  class. 

Two  other  prevalent  scourges,  not  ascribed  to  or- 
ganic uncleanliness  but  connected  with  the  question 
of  soil- water  removal,  —  consumption  and  fever  and 
ague,  —  must  have  a  prominent  place  in  any  dis- 
cussion of  sanitary  drainage. 

The  scientific  world  has  been  quick  to  accept  the 
suggestion  of  Dr.  Bowditch,  of  Boston,  that  the 
genesis  of  pulmonary  disease  seems  often  to  be  con- 
nected with  excessive  moisture  either  arising  from  a 
wet  soil,  from  a  clay  subsoil,  which  is  usually  a  cause 
of  damp  and  cold,  from  springs  breaking  out  near 
the  site  of  the  house,  from  sluggish  drains,  damp 
meadows,  ponds  of  water,  and  other  sources  of  fog 
and  atmospheric  moisture,  or  from  too  close  shelter- 
ing by  trees.  To  one  or  more  of  these  causes  it  is 
now  thought  that  we  may  ascribe  the  origin  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  cases  of  that  painful  disease 
which,  more  than  any  other,  characterizes  Ne\t 
England. 

Dr.   Bowditch   says,   "  Private  investigations  ii 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  45 

Europe  and  America  have  in  these  later  times 
proved  that  residence  on  a  damp  soil  brings  con- 
sumption ;  and  second  that  drainage  of  the  wet 
Boil  of  towns  tends  to  lessen  the  ravages  of  that 


In  1865-66  the  British  government  instituted  an 
examination  into  the  effect  of  drainage  works  on 
public  health.  Twenty-four  towns  sewered  by  the 
modern  system  were  examined.  "  It  appeared  that 
while  the  general  death-rate  had  greatly  diminished, 
it  was  most  strikingly  evident  in  the  smaller  num- 
ber of  deaths  from  consumption."  As  Bowditch 
has  pointed  out,  the  drying  of  the  soil  as  an  inci- 
dental effect  of  sewerage  had  led  to  the  diminution 
of  this  disease. 

Those  ailments  which  are  caused  by  the  influence 
of  stagnant  water,  or  excessive  wetness  of  the  soil 
—  consumption  in  its  most  fatal  form  being  one  of 
them  —  may  be  much  alleviated  by  the  simple  re- 
moval of  the  drainage-water,  through  exactly  the 
same  process  that  is  employed  in  farm  drainage. 

The  connection  of  fever  and  ague  with  soil 
moisture,  and  with  the  obstructed  decomposition  of 
vegetable  matter  in  saturated  ground  or  in  moist 
air,  is  almost  universally  recognized. 

The  improvement  resulting  from  drainage  is  fully 
attested  by  wide  areas  in  England,  where  whole 
neighborhoods  have  been  drained  for  farming  pur- 
poses, and  where,  as  a  consequence,  malarial  dis- 
eases have  entirely  disappeared. 

In  the  report  of  the  Staten  Island  Improvement 


46      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

Commission  (1871),  it  is  stated  that  where  the 
foundations  of  the  dwelling  and  the  land  about  it 
for  a  certain  space  have  been  thoroughly  under- 
drained,  and  where  considerable  foliage  interposes 
between  such  space  and  any  exterior  source  of  ma- 
laria, the  liability  to  disease  is  greatly  reduced,  and 
there  is  little  danger  that  fever  and  ague  would"  be 
contracted  by  the  inmates  of  such  a  house,  except 
by  exposure  outside  their  own  grounds.  An  in- 
stance is  cited  where  four  adjoining  farms,  near 
Fresh  Kills,  were  drained.  Close  to  each  of  these 
farms  there  has  been  much  malarial  disease,  but  the 
seventy  people  living  on  them  have  had  scarcely  a 
symptom  of  it.  In  another  quarter  formerly  very 
malarial,  the  occupants  of  which  carried  to  other 
residences  the  disease  there  contracted,  those  who 
remained  after  the  thorough  drainage  of  the  land 
have  recovered,  and  have  not  suffered  at  all  since  ; 
while  those  who  moved  to  them  after  their  drainage 
have  lived  there  for  years  without  injury.  In  thia 
case  as  in  the  first,  the  neighborhood  beyond  the 
influence  of  the  under-drains  is  still  highly  malarial. 

Pulmonary  diseases,  especially  the  early  stages  of 
consumption  ;  all  continued  fevers,  especially  ty- 
phoid fever  ;  degenerative  diseases,  such  as  scrcfula 
and  cancer;  and  uterine  diseases,  both  of  tissues 
and  of  function,  are  stated  by  the  Staten  Island 
Commission,  to  become  less  severe  with  the  nat- 
ural or  artificial  reduction  of  the  level  of  the 
ground-moisture. 

The  Secretary  of  the  General  Board  of  Healti 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  47 

(England)  published  in  1852  "  Minutes  of  Informa- 
tion, collected  in  respect  to  the  drainage  of  the  land 
forming  the  sites  of  towns,  etc." 

He  says :  "  When  experienced  medical  officers 
see  rows  of  houses  springing  up  on  a  foundation  of 
deep,  retentive  clay,  inefficiently  drained,  they  fore- 
tell the  certain  appearance  among  the  inhabitants 
of  catarrh,  rheumatism,  scrofula,  and  other  diseases, 
the  consequence  of  an  excess  of  damp,  which  break 
out  more  extensively  and  in  severer  forms  in  the 
cottages  of  the  poor,  who  have  scanty  means  of 
purchasing  the  larger  quantities  of  fuel,  and  of  ob- 
taining the  other  appliances  by  which  the  rich 
partly  counteract  the  effects  of  dampness.  Excess 
of  moisture  is  often  rendered  visible  in  the  shape  of 
mist  or  fog,  particularly  towards  evening.  An  in- 
telligent medical  officer  took  a  member  of  the  san- 
itary commission  to  an  elevated  spot  from  which  his 
district  could  be  seen.  It  being  in  the  evening, 
level  white  mists  could  be  distinguished  over  a  large 
portion  of  the  district.  "  These  mists,"  said  the 
officer,  "  exactly  mark  out  and  cover  the  seats  of  dis- 
eases, for  which  my  attendance  is  required.  Beyond 
these  mists,  I  have  rarely  any  cases  to  attend,  but 
midwifery  cases  and  accidents."  Efficient  drainage 
causes  the  removal,  or  at  least  a  diminution  of  such 
mists,  and  a  proportionate  abatement  of  the  disease 
generated  or  aggravated  by  dampness. 

"  After  houses  built  in  the  manner  described, 
•lave  been  inhabited  for  some  time,  and  especially 
tf  crowded,  fevers  of  a  typhoid  type  are  added  to 


48   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

'the  preceding  list  of  diseases,  in  consequence  of 
emanations  from  privies  and  cess-pools.  The  poi- 
sonous gases,  the  product  of  decomposing  animal  and 
vegetable  matter,  are  mixed  with  the  watery  vapor 
arising  from  excessive  damp  (such  vapors  being 
now  recognized  as  the  vehicle  for  the  diffusion  of 
the  more  subtle  noxious  gases),  and  both  are  in- 
haled night  and  day,  by  the  residents  of  these  un- 
wholesome houses.  A  further  consequence  of  the 
constant  inhalation  of  these  noxious  gases,  which 
have  an  extremely  depressing  effect,  is  inducing  the 
habitual  use  of  fermented  liquors,  ardent  spirits,  or 
other  stimulants,  by  which  a  temporary  relief  from 
the  feeling  of  oppression  is  obtained." 

In  the  English  Sanitary  Report  for  1852,  the  fol- 
lowing propositions  are  laid  down  :  — 

"  1.  Excess  of  moisture,  even  on  lands  not  evi- 
dently wet,  is  a  cause  of  fogs  and  damps. 

"  2.  Dampness  serves  as  the  medium  of  convey- 
ance, for  any  decomposing  matter  that  may  be 
evolved,  and  adds  to  the  injurious  effect  of  such 
matter  in  the  air;  in  other  words,  the  excess  of 
moisture  may  be  said  to  increase  or  aggravate  ex- 
cess of  impurities  in  the  atmosphere. 

"  3.  The  evaporation  of  the  surplus  moisture, 
lowers  temperature,  produces  chills,  and  creates  or 
aggravates  the  sudden  and  injurious  changes  of 
temperature,  by  which  health  is  injured." 

The  copious  evidence  taken  by  the  Metropolitan 
Sanitary  Commission,  in  1848,  concerning  the  ef- 
fect 01  ordinary  agricultural  land-drainage,  as  prao 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  49 

ticed  in  England,  upon  the  improving  healthfulnesa 
of  men  and  animals,  and  upon  climate,  resulted  in 
the  production  of  a  vast  amount  of  evidence  of  the 
most  telling  character,  to  review  which,  even 
briefly,  would  be  impossible  in  this  limited  space ; 
but  it  clearly  showed  that  all  the  benefits  that  the 
advocates  of  land-drainage  have  claimed  for  it,  nad 
already  been  fully  sustained  by  English  experi- 
ence. 

The  agricultural  drainage  of  the  land  in  and 
about  the  sites  of  towns,  and  the  soil-drainage  which 
is  usually  effected,  even  where  no  especial  provision 
is  made  for  it,  by  the  ordinary  works  of  sewerage, 
has  fully  demonstrated  the  sanitary  benefit  arising 
from  the  removal  of  stagnant  water,  or  water  of 
saturation,  from  the  soil.  The  earth  acts  upon  foul 
organic  matters  much  in  the  same  way  that  charcoal 
would  do,  having,  though  in  less  degree,  the  same 
sort  of  capacity  for  condensing  within  its  pores  the 
oxygen  needed  to  consume  the  products  of  organic 
decomposition.  But  no  soil  can  act  in  this  way  so 
long  as  its  spaces  are  filled  with  water,  and  in  order 
to  make  it  an  efficient  disinfectant  it  is  necessary  to 
withdraw  its  surplus  moisture  and  thus  admit  at- 
mospheric air  within  its  pores. 

It  is  now  generally  believed  that  in  addition  to 
the  many  other  evils  of  excessive  soil-moisture,  its 
effect  in  rendering  a  dwelling-house  cold  and  un- 
wholesome is  especially  marked  in  encouraging  the 
formation  of  tubercles  in  consumptive  subjects  ;  and 
the  various  forms  of  malarial  fever,  neuralgia,  in- 


60      SANITARY   DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

fluenza,  dysentery,  and  diseases  of  the  bowels,  are 
thought  to  be  aggravated  by  excess  of  moisture  in 
the  soil  immediately  about  human  habitations. 

During  the  past  thirty  or  forty  years  very  large 
contiguous  areas  have  been  drained  in  England  for 
agricultural  purposes,  and  an  invariable  result  of 
the  improvement  has  been  a  great  decrease  of 
malarial  diseases,  such  as  fever  and  ague  and  neu- 
ralgia. The  vast  fen-lands  of  Norfolk,  Lincoln- 
shire, and  Cumberlandshire  were  formerly  the 
seat  of  very  wide-spread  diseases  of  a  malarial 
type.  Since  the  drainage  of  the  fens  these  dis- 
eases have  become  comparatively  rare  and  mild  in 
form  ;  and  it  is  asserted  with  regard  to  England 
generally,  that  such  diseases  "  have  been  steadily 
decreasing  both  in  frequency  and  severity  for  sev- 
eral years  ;  and  this  decrease  is  attributed  in  nearly 
every  case  mainly  to  one  cause  —  improved  land- 
drainage." 

The  well-known  Mr.  James  Howard,  of  Bedford, 
England,  says,  "  In  my  own  county,  ague  and 
fever  thirty  or  forty  years  ago  were  very  common 
in  certain  villages  ;  since  draining  has  been  carried 
out  the  former  has  quite  disappeared,  and  the  latter 
has  greatly  decreased." 

So  far  as  the  question  of  social  prosperity  is  con- 
serned,  it  is  quite  proper  to  consider  the  financial 
aspects  of  the  question  of  health.  The  body  politic 
has  perhaps  no  compassion  for  the  sufferings  of  the 
poor  invalid  or  the  bereaved  mourner,  but  it  has  » 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  51 

quick  and  a  vital  interest  in  everything  affecting  its 
worldly  prosperity,  and  the  deepest  foundation  of 
its  worldly  prosperity  lies  in  the  strength  and  ef- 
ficiency of  its  members. 

Dr.  Boardman  of  Boston,  in  the  sixth  annual  re- 
port of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Health,  enters 
into  a  calculation,  based  on  numerous  data,  which 
aeem  to  be  sufficiently  proved. 

In  the  metropolitan  district,  including  Boston,, 
the  average  loss  of  time  from  sickness  for  each  in- 
dividual is  twenty-four  days  in  the  year.  In  the 
western  district,  including  Berkshire  County,  the 
loss  is  about  fourteen  days  ;  and  the  average  for  the 
whole  State  is  nearly  seventeen  days  for  each  mem- 
ber of  the  population.  This  was  in  1872  ;  a  sim- 
ilar computation  for  the  previous  eight  years  shows 
an  average  of  fourteen  days  for  each  person.  Calcu- 
lating the  cost  of  nursing,  medical  attendance,  etc., 
and  the  loss  of  time  to  persons  of  a  productive  age, 
he  finds  that  the  loss  to  the  State  from  the  sickness 
of  working  people  alone  is  over  fifteen  million 
dollars  ;  and  the  same  computation  for  the  entire 
population  would  amount  to  nearly  forty  million 
dollars.  ,, 

Assuming  that  out  of  the  nineteen  persons  in 
every  thousand  who  die  annually  in  the  whole  State 
of  Massachusetts,  four  might  be  saved  by  the  avoid- 
ance of  preventable  diseases,  —  and  this  is  certainly 
very  low,  for  it  may  be  reasonably  assumed  that 
eleven  per  thousand  is  the  natural  death-rate,  or 
the  lowest  that  can  be  attained,  —  the  following 


52      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

laving  to  the  State  would  result :  the  annual  mortal- 
ity being  26,619  with  a  death-rate  of  nineteen  per 
one  thousand,  it  would  be,  with  a  death-rate  of 
fifteen  per  thousand,  21,015,  or  an  annual  saving  of 
5,604  lives.  Good  grounds  are  given  for  assuming 
that  every  death  represents  a  total  of  730  days  of 
sickness  and  disability  ;  the  aggregate  saving  from 
sickness  therefore  would  be  4,090,920  days,  which 
would  amount  to  $8,181,840,  or  for  the  working 
population  alone  $3,190,916,  which  latter  sum 
would  represent  the  interest  on  more  than  fifty  mill- 
ion dollars.  The  practical  question  then  which  the 
commonwealth  should  consider  is  whether  an  in- 
vestment of  fifty  million  dollars  in  the  improvement 
of  the  sanitary  condition  of  its  population,  and  in 
their  enlightenment  as  to  means  for  preserving 
health,  would  result  in  a  reduction  of  the  death- 
rate  from  nineteen  to  fifteen.  If  it  would  do  so, 
then  the  investment  would  be  a  profitable  one. 
That  it  might  do  this,  and  even  more,  is  proven  by 
English  experience,  and  no  one  can  doubt  it  who 
will  give  even  casual  attention  to  the  degree  to 
which  human  life,  in  even  our  best  communities, 
whether  in  town  or  country,  is  hourly  endangered 
by  the  unwholesome  conditions  under  which  it  ex- 
ists. 

In  every  household  in  which  a  pronounced  case 
of  typhoid  occurs,  it  may  fairly  be  assumed  that 
the  value  of  the  whole  family  to  themselves  and  to 
ihe  community  is  distinctly  lessened  ;  and  the  larg* 
proportion  of  "  debilitated  and  weakly "  person* 


SANITARY  RELATIONS  OF  DRAINAGE.      53 

found  in  all  our  communities  are  but  half-way  vic- 
tims struggling  against  the  assaults  of  foul  air  and 
contaminated  water.  Their  lives  are  permanently 
dulled  by  a  malaria  they  are  in  part  able  to  with- 
stand. 

In  this  ever-waged  battle  there  are  wounded  as 
well  as  killed ;  and  in  England  it  is  recognized  that 
"convulsions"  and  many  attacks  of  nervous  ail- 
ments are  marks  of  excremental  poisoning. 

There  are  several  diseases  which  are  now  known 
to  indicate  more  or  less  definitely  unfavorable  sani- 
tary arrangements,  and  as  the  knowledge  of  hy- 
giene extends,  other  diseases  are  being  added  to  the 
list.  Nervous  toothache,  neuralgia,  scarlet  fever, 
cholera,  dysentery,  diphtheria,  cerebro-spinal  men- 
ingitis, and  consumption  are  among  those  which  are 
either  generated  by  foul  air  or  foul  water,  or  which 
are  made  worse  because  of  unhealthy  surroundings. 

The  "New  York  Medical  Record  "  of  June  19th, 
Bays,  "  It  may  safely  be  said  that  diphtheria,  does 
not  appear  to  have  any  connection  with  the  distri- 
bution of  the  old  water-courses  of  this  city ;  also 
that  a  large  number  of  cases  have  originated,  with- 
out any  suspicion  of  contact  with  the  diseased  mat- 
ter in  any  form,  while  in  some  of  these  instances, 
anitary  defects  of  a  very  serious  kind,  have  been 
3und  in  $ie  dwellings,  making  it  highly  probable 
•iat  noxious  emanations  and  the  like  have  pro- 
vuced  the  disease.  It  may  possibly  be  due  to  the 
toul  emanations  from  slaughter-houses,  and  other 
auisances,  or  it  may  arise  from  some  accident  or 


54   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

neglect  in  one's  own  dwelling,  where  it  was  sup- 
posed that  every  sanitary  regulation  was  vigorously 
enforced.  Such  might  be  the  explanation  of  the 
following  interesting  case  :  A  prominent  physician 
of  this  city  was  suddenly  taken  ill  of  diphtheria, 
and  was  confined  to  his  room  for  five  days.  On  re- 
covering, and  making  a  careful  inspection  of  hia 
premises,  he  found  that  in  some  unknown  way  tlw 
soil-pipe  carrying  the  waste  from  the  adjoining 
houses,  had  burst,  letting  in  upon  his  cellar-floorj 
a  collection  of  rottenness  and  filth,  that  was  of  the 
most  disgusting  kind.  It  is  difficult  always  to  be 
able  to  make  a  careful  examination  of  the  premises 
in  this  way,  but  it  seems  probable  that  if  each  case 
of  diphtheria  were  carefully  investigated,  a  large 
number  of  the  so-called  idiopathic  cases,  might  be 
traced  to  some  such  source.  Many  similar  instances 
probably  occur  to  the  mind  of  most  practitioners, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  such  influences 
as  these  described,  should  not  in  many  cases  be 
causes  of  diphtheria,  just  as  they  may  often  produce 
typhoid  fever,  puerperal  fever,  and  erysipelas,  —  an 
opinion  that  is  beginning  to  be  very  generally 
held." 

The  following  is  taken  from  the  "  Sanitary  Rec- 
ord "  of  March  13, 1875  :  — 

"  In  consequence  of  an  outbreak  of  diphtheria  in 
Homsey,  Mr.  Oakeshott,  the  medical  officer  of 
health  for  the  district,  instituted  inquiries,  and 
traced  the  cause  to  the  escape  of  sewer-gas  inta 
houses.  The  first  case  occurred  to  a  child  attend 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  55 

ing  a  small  school.  The  house  was  disinfected, 
and  it  was  supposed  that  the  disease  had  been 
stamped  out,  but  several  other  cases  having  oc- 
curred, the  sanitary  inspector  made  a  minute  exam- 
ination, and  found  that  notwithstanding  the  house 
was  generally  in  a  good  condition,  the  drains  had 
recently  been  connected  with  the  main  sewer,  and 
since  then  foul  smells  had  been  complained  of. 
The  traps  to  the  sink  in  the  kitchen,  where  the 
school  was  held,  were  defective,  and,  on  measuring 
the  velocity  of  the  rush  of  sewer-gas  from  the  sink, 
he  found  it  to  be  two  to  three  cubic  feet  per  min- 
ute. The  room  was  only  about  ten  feet  square.  It 
was  consequently  very  bad  for  the  children  there, 
and  the  intensity  of  the  poison  rapidly  proved 
fatal,  as  might  be  expected,  but  it  seemed  impossi- 
ble that  thirty  cases  could  have  occurred,  through 
these  few  children  who  first  had  the  disease.  On 
examining  the  Fortis  Green  National  Schools,  Mr. 
Oakeshott  and  the  sanitary  inspector  found  a  pit 
at  the  rear,  full  of  foul  soil,  the  stench  being  very 
bad.  This  was  quite  enough  to  cause  the  later 
outbreak.  Mr.  Forstall,  medical  officer  of  health 
of  Highgate,  who  had  been  referred  to,  stated  that 
in  three  cases  of  diphtheria  which  he  attended  in  one 
family,  sewage  was  found  to  have  percolated  under 
the  floor.  He  attributed  the  outbreak  which  oc- 
curred at  Fortis  Green,  to  sewage  gas.  Great  com- 
plaints had  been  made  of  the  foul  smells  emanating 
from  the  main  sewers  ;  the  prevailing  opinion  being, 
khat  the  smells  were  worse  since  the  completion  of 


£6      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

the  drainage  scheme,  than  before  ;  the  evil  chiefly 
arising  from  want  of  efficient  trapping  and  ventila- 
tion of  the  sewers." 

Dr.  Derby  says :  "  That  an  obscure  internal  cause 
—  which,  in  our  ignorance  of  its  nature,  is  called  a 
proneness  of  disposition  to  receive  the  poison  —  is 
necessary  for  its  development  does  not  affect  the 
truth  of  the  fact  that  without  filth  the  disease  is  not 

born The  improvement  of  public  health  as 

expressed  by  that  unerring  guide,  the  death-rate, 
corresponds  with  all  the  means  by  which  air  and 
water  are  kept  free  from  pollution." 

Typhoid  fever  is  the  most  conspicuous  type  of 
the  class  of  zymotic  diseases,  all  of  which  are  clearly 
pythogenic,  and  none  of  which  can  originate  under 
conditions  fit  for  proper  human  habitation. 

A  fertile  soil  or  an  impervious  subsoil  is  especially 
favorable  to  typhoid  poisoning ;  while  deep  gravel 
or  sand,  well  drained,  arid  offering  free  access  to  the 
air,  are  the  least  so.  Rock  near  the  surface  is  bad 
in  the  same  way  that  a  clay  subsoil  is  bad,  so  far 
as  the  foundation  of  the  house  is  concerned,  while 
either  rock  or  gravel  may  be,  and  often  are,  ex- 
cellent. Neither  is  necessarily  a  certain  security 
against  the  sanitary  evils  under  discussion,  for, 
through  fissures  in  the  rock  and  through  the  porous 
soil  there  is  too  often  an  ingress  of  polluted  water 
from  barn-yards,  cess-pools,  etc.,  or  a  spread  o1 
dampness  from  adjacent  ponds  or  rivers. 

It  is  doubtless  too  early  in  the  education  of  the 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  57 

community  in  this  free  country  to  expect  the  people 
to  submit  to  the  dictation  of  public  authorities  as  to 
the  manner  in  which  they  shall  construct  the  foun- 
dation of  their  houses,  but  the  time  cannot  be  far 
distant  when  the  public  will  assert  its  right  to  see 
that  walls,  foundations,  and  chimneys  are  so  con- 
structed as  to  preserve  the  public  health  —  at  least 
BO  far  as  to  require  that  these  important  parts  of 
home-building  are  made  to  conform  to  the  health 
requirements  of  the  situation. 

As  a  rule,  new  residents  in  an  unhealthy  locality 
are  more  subject  to  disease  than  those  who  have 
become  accustomed  to  the  unfavorable  influence; 
yet  when  typhoid  contagion  appears,  it  attacks  first 
those  whose  systems  have  been  debilitated  by  the 
insidious  influences  of  foul  air  or  water. 

Malarial  evils  cannot  be  counteracted  ;  they  must 
be  removed. 

In  1874,  an  International  Sanitary  Congress  was 
held  at  Vienna,  at  which  it  was  unanimously 
affirmed,  that  there  is  no  agent  known  which  is 
certainly  capable  of  destroying  a  contagion,  and 
that  we  must  look  with  suspicion,  upon  the  efficacy 
of  mere  disinfectants. 

A  recent  writer,  discussing  the  epidemic  of 
cholera,  in  Vienna,  during  the  exhibition  year,  di- 
vides the  causes  of  epidemic  diseases,  between 
miasms  and  contagions ;  the  first  being  poisonous 
gases  ;  and  the  second,  germ  cells.  He  states  that 
contagion  flourishes  only  where  miasm  is  developed. 
Although  this  theory  lacks  scientific  demonstration, 


58      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

it  is  in  such  close  conformity  with  the  results  of  all 
observation,  that  it  may  be  taken  as  true  in  practi- 
cal effect.  Whatever  may  be  the  character  or 
source  of  an  infection,  its  development  and  activity 
are  always  fostered  by  the  presence  of  decomposing 
matter,  producing  a  miasmatic  condition  of  the  air. 

Air,  poisoned  by  stagnant  water,  in  or  on  the  soil, 
or  corrupted  by  emanations  from  the  decomposing 
wastes  of  human  life,  whether  it  originates  an  in- 
fection or  not,  is  quite  sure  to  aggravate  any  infec- 
tion that  may  already  exist. 

Liebermeister  says  that  typhoid  fever  "  is  not 
contagious  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word,  for  it 
is  never  transmitted  by  direct  contact.  It  is  not 
purely  miasmatic,  for  external  conditions  alone  are 

not  sufficient  to  produce  it The  development 

can  take  place  if  the  dejections  are  left  to  them- 
selves, as  in  dirty  linen ;  but  it  seems  to  go  on  more 
abundantly  if  the  dejections  are  collected  in  privies, 
sewers,  or  ground  already  saturated  with  organic 
substances.  In  this  way  it  can  be  explained  how 
a  typhoid  patient  who  comes  to  a  house  or  region 
previously  free  from  the  disease,  can  establish  thero 
a  focus  of  infection  from  which  many  other  persons 

become  diseased When  typhoid  fever  is  once 

established  in  any  locality,  it  may  disappear  for  a 
long  time  and  then  suddenly  reappear,  without  tha 
introduction  of  a  new  case." 

Again  he  says  :  "  From  all  that  has  been  said,  it 
results  that  the  real  cause,  in  our  opinion,  of  every 
Epidemic,  and  of  every  isolated  case  of  typhoid  fever 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF   DRAINAGE.  59 

is  only  the  specific  poison  of  typhoid  fever.  All  the 
numerous  conditions  which  have  been  called  causes 
are  not  real  causes.  If  the  specific  poison  is  absent, 
every  other  evil  influence  may  act  on  the  popula- 
tion without  producing  typhoid  fever.  No  matter 
how  well  a  field  has  been  manured,  wheat  will  not 
grow  unless  wheat  has  been  sown."  In  like  man- 
ner, the  poison  cannot  be  propagated  unless  the 
proper  conditions  are  present,  as  with  wheat,  which, 
"  if  we  sow  on  rocks,  we  sow  in  vain ; "  and  so, 
"  besides  the  presence  of  typhoid  poison,  many  other 
conditions  are  necessary  to  produce  typhoid  fever." 
And  again  :  "  The  cause  of  typhoid  fever  is  always 
a  specific  poison  ;  if  this  poison  is  not  received  into 
the  body,  anything  else  may  be  produced,  but  no 
typhoid  fever." 

One  naturally  argues  from  circumstances  with 
which  he  is  most  familiar,  and  as  I  have  given  more 
especial  attention  to  the  sanitary  short-comings  of 
my  own  town,  I  take  it  as  an  example,  believing 
however,  that  its  interior  arrangements  are  not  less 
favorable  than  those  of  the  average  of  our  prosper- 
ous country  places,  and  recognizing  the  important 
fact  that  its  position  (on  a  neck  of  land  hardly  a 
mile  wide  and  sloping  in  one  direction  to  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  and  in  the  other  to  Narragansett  Bay, 
without  a  hill  or  a  forest  to  intercept  the  free-blow- 
ing winds  from  every  quarter)  makes  Newport  nat- 
urally a  perfectly  salubrious  town.  The  population 
a  1870  was  12,521,  the  larger  number  living  in  & 


60      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

compactly  built  district  facing  the  west  and  drained 
into  a  deep  cove  of  Narragansett  Bay.  At  the 
north  and  at  the  south  the  land  is  flat,  but  nearly 
all  of  it  lies  high  enough  for  tolerable  drainage.  It 
is  underlaid  with  stratified  rock,  and  has  a  heavy 
clay  subsoil  interrupted  by  fissures  of  gravel  sloping 
similarly  to  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

There  is  no  public  water  supply,  and  probably  a 
large  majority  of  the  population  drink  water  from 
wells  only,  although  there  are  many  filtering  cis- 
terns. Nearly  all  the  houses  of  well-to-do  people 
have  the  usual  plumbing  arrangements,  which  dis- 
charge into  cisterns  or  into  cess-pools  in  the  ground. 
Some  of  these  drain  themselves  through  the  gravel 
streaks  of  the  subsoil,  and  a  very  few  are  absolutely 
tight,  so  that  they  require  hand  emptying.  A  rude 
sort  of  sewerage  has  been  attempted  here  and  there, 
laid  without  'system  and  constructed  apparently 
without  the  least  reference  to  the  well-known  re- 
quirements of  all  town  drains. 

These  sewers  have  the  advantage  of  being  at 
every  opening  so  noisomely  offensive  that  persons 
living  near  them  are  warned  by  the  odor  to  keep 
their  windows  closed  when  the  wind  comes  from  a 
certain  direction,  and  passers-by  do  not  loiter  in 
their  vicinity.  There  is  less  insidious  sewer  poison- 
ing here,  as  the  exhalations  are  blazoned  to  the 
dullest  sense.  Usually  where  a  sewer  is  available, 
the  private  cess-pool  overflows  into  it,  but  in  a 
great  majority  of  cases  the  removal  is  by  hand,  witb 
carts  trundling  into  the  country  and  making  winter 
Hays  and  summer  nights  worse  than  hideous. 


SANITARY  RELATIONS  OF  DRAINAGE.      61 

If  the  best  winds  of  heaven  did  not  blow  almost 
constantly  through  our  streets,  we  should  probably 
be  as  badly  off  as  a  country  town  can  be,  but  appar- 
ently this  free  ventilation  will  for  some  time  con- 
tinue to  stave  off  the  epidemic  that  awaits  us,  and 
which  alone  probably  (here  as  elsewhere)  will  be 
able  to  secure  the  needed  reform. 

With  these  advantages  and  disadvantages  New- 
port had  a  death-rate  in  1863  of  34.16  per  thousand 
(even  supposing  the  population  not  to  have  in- 
creased between  1863  and  1870)  ;  a  death-rate  in 
1873  of  25.76  per  thousand,  and  an  average  death- 
rate  for  eleven  years  ending  1873  of  21.05  per 
thousand.  The  adjoining  town  (Middletown)  which, 
like  Newport,  extends  quite  across  the  island,  with 
a  purely  rural  population  of  1,074  persons,  had  in 
1875  only  9  deaths,  being  a  death-rate  of  only  8.38. 
Its  natural  sanitary  conditions  are  by  no  means 
superior  to  those  of  Newport,  —  which  owes  its 
shamefully  high  death-rate  only  to  the  lack  of  in- 
telligence with  which  it  allows  the  accumulation  of 
domestic  filth  to  endanger  the  lives  of  its  people 
and  its  visitors. 

The  town  of  Worthing,  on  the  south  coast  of  Eng- 
land, is  probably  more  nearly  like  Newport  in  its 
climate,  population,  and  uses  than  any  other  sea- 
coast  town  with  which  it  can  be  compared.  Like 
Newport,  Worthing  is  more  or  less  a  resort  for  in- 
valids and  persons  seeking  a  beneficial  change  of 
gdr,  but  unlike  Newport  it  has  an  excellent  and 
abundant  supply  of  pure  watei,  and  its  drainage 


62   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

is  said  to  be  perhaps  the  most  complete  in  Great 
Britain,  every  cess-pool  and  surface  drain  having 
been  suppressed,  and  a  main  sewer  emptying  into 
the  sea  two  miles  away.  The  sanitary  effect  of  this 
difference  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  Worthing  has 
the  lowest  death-rate  ever  recorded  — 14.5  per 
thousand  (during  the  second  quarter  of  1874  it  was 
only  12.9  per  thousand)  ;  and  a  death-rate  of  14.5 
means  an  average  longevity  of  nearly  sixty-nine  years 
for  ih&  whole  population.  In  1874  there  was  only 
one  death  in  Worthing  from  fever ;  this  was  certi- 
fied as  enteric  (typhoid).  It  is  probably  as  nearly 
certain  as  any  such  speculation  can  be,  that  could 
Newport  have  the  simple  advantage  of  a  pure  water 
supply  and  the  perfect  drainage  that  could  so  easily 
be  given  it,  its  average  death-rate  could  be  reduced 
to  that  of  Worthing,  causing  us  an  annual  saving  of 
nearly  one  third  of  our  deaths,  with  the  enormous 
amount  of  costly  and  wearying  illness  and  of  debility 
and  inefficiency  that  these  deaths  imply.  Viewed 
in  another  light,  could  the  questionable  reputation 
under  which  Newport  now  suffers  be  replaced  by 
one  like  that  of  Worthing,  it  would  lead  to  such  a 
growth  of  "  stranger  "  population  in  summer  and  in 
winter  as  would  gladden  the  hearts  and  overflow 
the  coffers  of  all  its  eager  army  of  purveyors. 

All  English  watering  places  are  not  equally  well 
cared  for.  In  a  series  of  articles  describing  the 
health  of  watering  places  in  England  we  find  the 
following  statement  which  is  specially  recommended 
to  the  local  governments  of  American  sea-side  re- 
sorts. 


SANITARY   RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  63 

"  For  the  benefit  of  those  of  our  readers  who  may 
have  little  local  knowledge  of  Whitby,  it  may  be 
useful  to  refer  to  one  or  two  matters  which  have  a 
direct  bearing  upon  the  health  of  the  town.  First, 
as  to  the  drainage.  It  appears  almost  in.redible 
that  in  any  place  depending  in  great  measure  upon 
its  reputation  as  a  health  resort,  the  whole  of  the 
sewage  of  a  town  of  more  than  13,000  inhabitants 
should  be  emptied  into  the  harbor  ;  and  yet  such  is 
still  the  case  with  Whitby.  The  drawback  to  the 
enjoyment  of  Whitby,  as  a  watering  place,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  health,  arising  from  the  condition  of 
the  harbor,  especially  at  low  water,  has  attracted 
considerable  attention  among  the  visitors  during  the 
season  just  ended,  as  we  can  aver  from  personal  ex- 
perience." 

In  fifteen  other  watering  places  described,  the 
rate  of  mortality  during  1874,  was  lower  in  twelve 
of  them  than  in  Whitby  which  was  only  exceeded 
by  Southport,  Falmouth,  and  Rhyl. 

The  degree  to  which  the  sanitary  question  has 
taken  hold  of  the  popular  mind  in  England  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  following,  from  the  "  Sanitary  Rec- 
ord :  "  "  Taunton  has  been  for  a  long  time  considered 
to  be  —  by  its  inhabitants,  at  least,  if  not  by  the 
world  at  large  — '  the  cleanest  town  in  England  ; ' 
and  Tauntonians  are  accordingly  just  now  greatly 
concerned  on  account  of  the  fact  that  two  persona 
in  the  town  have  died  of  typhoid  fever ;  the  victims 
being  policemen,  and  the  active  cause  of  the  fever 
being  the  presence  in  the  town  of  a  filthy  slaughter- 


64      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND    TOWNS. 

house  which  has  not  yet  secured  a  sufficient  amount 
of  attention  on  the  part  of  the  board  of  health. 
The  offending  slaughter-house  keepers  appeared  last 
week  before  the  Taunton  Bench,  on  an  adjourned 
Bummons,  tardily  taken  out  at  the  instance  of  the 
local  board  of  health.  These  cases  of  fever  have 
attracted  an  unusual  amount  of  attention,  and  have 
put  Tauntonians  'quite  in  a  flutter,'  because  the 
reputation  of  their  town  for  general  salubrity  and 
exemption  from  fevers  has  hitherto  been  untar- 
nished." When  shall  we  see  the  day  when  two 
deaths  from  typhoid  in  a  large  town  in  America 
will  put  its  people  '  quite  in  a  flutter  ? ' 

Nor  are  our  cities  better  provided  with  sanitary 
appliances  than  our  smaller  towns.  Even  Boston, 
which  congratulates  itself  on  its  refinement  and 
civilization,  is  assiduously  planting  the  seeds  of 
future  trouble. 

The  newer  parts  of  the  city,  especially  the  dis- 
trict toward  the  Mill-dam,  may  serve  as  a  very 
good  illustration  of  what  it  is  possible  to  do  in  the 
way  of  providing  unfit  habitations.  The  annoyances 
caused  by  the  imperfect  sewerage  of  this  district 
have  long  been  a  ground  of  complaint  even  among 
persons  who  would  accept  the  ordinarily  defective 
drainage  of  higher-lying  town-districts  as  quite  sat- 
isfactory. 

In  this  case  the  remedy  though  radical  is  simple, 
and  it  would  be  much  less  costly  than  would  be 
supposed  by  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the 
artificial  pumping  system  largely  in  use  in  England 


SANITARY    RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  &5 

Indeed,  this  district  is  especially  well  adapted  for 
such  drainage,  for  the  reason  that  all  its  houses  are 
occupied  by  a  class  who  use  water  very  liberally,  so 
that  there  need  be  no  fear  that  there  would  not  be 
an  ample  flow  to  remove  all  solid  matter  reaching 
properly  made  drains. 

All  street-wash  and  the  rain-water  falling  on  the 
roofs,  court-yards,  etc.  (beyond  what  would  be 
needed  for  occasional  flushing  of.  the  house  sewers), 
may  be  removed  by  surface  gutters  or  by  a  system 
of  shallow  drains  discharging  into  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  flushed,  whenever  needed,  by  water  ad- 
mitted to  a  flushing  reservoir  from  Charles  River 
at  high  tide.  The  house  drainage  itself  should  be 
disposed  of  through  an  independent  system  of  small 
sewers  laid  at  least  three  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
lowest  cellars,  collected  at  one  point  and  lifted  by 
steam  power  into  the  sewer  leading  to  Massachu- 
setts Bay.  Nothing  but  the  fact  that  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  wide  stretches  of  water  and  great  areas 
of  unoccupied  land  could  account  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  city  in  a  state  of  even  tolerable  health- 
fulness,  in  the  face  of  the  circumstance  that  the 
water  system  is  only  partially  introduced,  and  that 
one  half  of  its  night-soil,  or  about  five  thousand 
cords  per  annum,  is  still  removed  by  carts  :  and  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  five  thousand 
cords  is  only  what  has  been  retained  in  the  vaults 
after  enormous  volumes  of  its  liquid  parts  have 
soaked  away  into  a  soil  coveied  with  a  dense  popu- 
lation. 


66      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  fact  that  there  is 
often  less  danger  from  impure  well-water  than  from 
impure  air,  and  some  of  the  Massachusetts  investi- 
gations indicate  that  in  that  State  contaminated 
wells  are  not  a  very  prominent  source  of  infection. 
At  the  same  time,  the  fouling  of  well-water  by  or- 
ganic impurities  is  a  very  frequent  source  of  fatal 
disease,  and  probably  the  reason  why  it  does  not  ap- 
pear relatively  more  serious  in  Massachusetts  is  that 
BO  much  of  the  soil  of  that  State  is  of  a  light  char- 
acter to  a  very  great  depth,  there  being  less  lateral 
movement  of  excessive  soil-moisture  than  where 
strata  of  hardpan,  or  impervious  soil,  and  seams  in 
stratified  rocks  are  more  prevalent. 

The  reason  why  well-water  is  often  bad  and  un- 
wholesome is,  in  plain  English,  because  sink-drains 
and  vaults  empty  their  foul  contents  into  it.  A  well 
may  be  good  for  a  long  time  and  subsequently  be- 
come poisoned,  because  the  soil  lying  between  the 
source  of  the  impurity  and  the  well  itself  has  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  cleansing  power.  While  this  ia 
effective,  every  impurity  is  withheld,  but  by  degrees 
the  soil  becomes  foul  farther  and  farther  on,  until  at 
last  there  is  no  grain  of  uncorrupted  earth  to  stand 
between  the  sink  and  our  only  source  of  the  pure 
water  without  which  we  cannot  live  in  health. 

The  well  is  in  effect  a  deeper  drain,  toward  whicl 
the  water  from  the  surrounding  earth  finds  its  way 
and  in  time,  as  impurities  will  follow  water  to  any 
outlet  unless  the  filter  that  holds  them  back  remains 
always  active,  the  foulness  of  the  earth  within  the 


SANITARY    RELATIONS   OF  DRAINAGE.  6"} 

drawing  range  of  the  well  is  carried  into  the  water, 
which  it  renders  unfit  for  human  use. 

In  1847  typhoid  fever  broke  out  nearly  at  once 
in  the  thirteen  houses  of  a  single  terrace  in  Clifton, 
England,  which  took  their  drinking-water  from  a 
certain  well.  Other  houses  in  the  same  terrace  es- 
caped entirely,  and  it  was  found  on  investigation 
that  in  every  house  supplied  from  the  well  in  ques- 
tion the  disease  was  severe,  while  in  no  other  house 
of  the  terrace  did  it  appear.  The  infected  houses 
were  considerably  scattered,  and  the  only  connect- 
ing link  between  the  inmates  was  the  use  of  the 
same  drinking-water. 

A  very  striking  case  in  point  which  occurred  in 
Williamstown,  Massachusetts,  was  well  and  skill- 
fully investigated.  A  house-drain  became  choked, 
and  its  contents  mingled  with  those  of  a  field-drain 
that  was  near  a  well.  The  season  was  wet,  the 
ground  was  thoroughly  saturated,  and  the  surface 
water  oozed  into  the  well.  The  house  was  a  board- 
ing-house, with  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  persons, 
mostly  students,  at  table.  Within  two  weeks  most 
of  the  boarders  were  affected,  and  twenty  or  more 
of  the  students  fell  sick.  At  this  time  there  was 
one  case  of  typhoid  fever  in  town,  and  this  patient 
had  been  removed  from  his  lodgings  in  the  college 
to  this  boarding-house,  where,  probably  by  means 
of  the  escape  of  his  dejections  from  the  imperfect 
irain,  his  disease  was  communicated  through  the 
water  of  the  well  to  all  or  nearly  all  of  those  who 
irank  the  water  unboiled.  Those  who  drank  no 


68      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND    TOWNS. 

3old  water  escaped :  but  a  family  in  an  adjoining 
house  supplied  from  the  same  well  were  attacked, 
except  one  member  who  habitually  drank  no  cold 
water.  All  who  drank  that  water  unboiled  had  the 
disease ;  all  who  avoided  it  in  that  state  escaped. 

Dr.  Stephen  Smith  describes  a  visit  to  a  country 
clergyman,  a  former  schoolmate,  who  told  him  of  a 
family,  five  of  the  members  of  which  had  died, 
while  another  was  then  fatally  sick  with  typhoid 
fever ;  and  he  had  not  thought  of  attributing  it  to 
anything  else  but  a  "  visitation  of  Providence." 
An  investigation  showed  that  during  a  busy  har- 
vest the  valve  of  the  pump  had  got  out  of  order, 
and  there  being  no  time  to  replace  it,  water  had 
been  taken  from  a  brook  which  received,  higher  up, 
surface  water  and  the  drainage  from  several  barn- 
yards. Of  the  entire  family  but  two  escaped  at- 
tack, and  they  had  not  used  the  water. 

The  Broad  Street  pump  in  London  is  now  fa- 
mous in  the  annals  of  epidemics.  During  the 
cholera  visitation  in  1848-49,  it  killed  five  hundred 
persons  in  a  single  week.  And  many  of  the  better 
classes,  who  fled  the  town  and  went  to  reside  five 
miles  farther  up  the  Thames,  were  there  attacked 
with  cholera,  it  being  found  that  they  had  been  in 
.he  habit  of  sending  to  the  Broad  Street  pump  for 
their  tea-water. 

Having  been  instrumental  in  introducing  the 
dry-earth  system  of  sewerage  into  this  country,  it  it 
proper  for  me  to  say  here  that  my  faith  in  the  abil 


SANITARY  RELATIONS   OF   DRAINAGE.  69 

ity  of  that  system  to  accomplish  all  that  it  has  ever 
promised  remains  unabated,  and  that,  under  cir 
cumstances  where  its  application  is  practically  fea- 
sible, I  should  never  recommend  water  sewerage ; 
yet,  i  n  the  present  state  of  its  development,  it  is  so 
inapplicable  to  a  large  majority  of  cases,  or  so  dis- 
tasteful to  a  mass  of  persons  whose  necessities  de- 
mand immediate  relief,  that,  without  in  any  way 
receding  from  its  advocacy  (to  which  a  later  chap- 
ter of  this  book  is  devoted),  I  freely  acknowledge 
that  the  practical  good  which  is  to  come  of  early 
sanitary  reform  is  to  be  sought  through  other 
means. 

The  drawback,  so  far  as  towns  are  concerned,  lies 
in  the  inability  of  this  system  to  deal  satisfactorily 
with  copious  amounts  of  water.  Twenty-five  gal- 
lons of  waste  running  from  a  kitchen  sink  would 
require  for  its  absorption  from  four  hundred  to  five 
hundred  pounds  of  earth.  Still,  earth  sewerage 
can  be  perfectly  depended  on  in  village  and  rural 
establishments  where  there  is  a  sufficient  amount  of 
lawn  or  garden  to  absorb  the  waste  by  underground 
irrigation ;  such  irrigation  beginning  at  a  point 
sufficiently  far  from  the  house  or  the  well.  Dis- 
posed of  in  this  way,  and  made  to  feed  a  vigorous 
vegetation,  all  of  the  liquid  waters  of  the  house 
may  be  safely  treated  in  a  small  lawn  or  garden. 

The  evidence  as  to  the  sanitary  completeness  of 
this  pystem  is  all  as  conclusive  as  the  following  re 
cent  report  from  a  very  unhealthy  quarter :  Befor 
1868,  dysentery  arc7  fever  were  very  prevalent  ". 


70     SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWSb 

the  convict-prison  of  Labuan,  Borneo,  and  the  old 
Bystem  of  water-closets  and  cess-pits  was  abol- 
ished, earth-closets  being  substituted.  Hereupon 
the  sickness  and  mortality  declined.  In  1870  a 
great  mortality  broke  out  among  the  troops  of  the 
station,  and  a  government  inquiry  developed  the 
fact  that  in  the  barracks,  where  the  earth  system 
had  been  neglected,  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  troops 
died  per  annum  ;  the  deaths  in  the  prison,  where  it 
had  been  assiduously  used,  amounted  to  but  two 
per  cent.  In  Sierra  Leone,  where  the  commanding 
officer  had  taken  efficient  measures  to  provide 
earth-closets  for  the  troops,  the  health  of  the  offi- 
cers and  men  was  maintained  "  at  the  very  time 
when  fever  and  dysentery  were  carrying  off  twenty 
per  cent,  per  annum  of  the  European  population 
residing  in  the  town." 

A  novel  system  of  sewerage  by  pneumatic  action, 
invented  a  few  years  ago  by  a  Dutch  engineer 
named  Liernur,  has  been  introduced  on  a  large 
scale  in  parts  of  Amsterdam,  Leyden,  and  other 
towns  of  Holland,  and  is  now  being  much  discussed 
by  those  interested  in  sanitary  matters  in  England. 
The  accounts  given  of  the  success  of  this  method, 
of  the  entire  absence  of  odor  in  all  its  processes, 
and  of  the  complete  saving  for  agricultural  use  of 
almost  every  part  of  the  household  waste,  indicate 
that  it  is  most  efficient,  economical,  and  admirable 
The  Pneumatic  System  is  treated  more  fully  in  sub 
sequent  chapters. 


CHAPTER  IL 

THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES. 
"  The  house  is  the  unit  of  sanitary  administration." 

WHATEVER  means  may  be  adopted  by  the  board 
of  health  of  town  or  village  for  the  removal  of  the 
wastes  incident  to  the  life  of  its  population  ;  what- 
ever facilities  for  such  removal  may  be  offered  by 
the  natural  surroundings  of  isolated  country  houses  ; 
and  whatever  the  public  or  the  individual  may  do 
toward  rendering  the  natural  character  of  the 
ground  dry  and  salubrious,  the  first  aim  of  the 
householder  himself  should  be  to  secure  a  perfect 
means  for  carrying  safely  beyond  the  walls  of  his 
domicile  everything  of  a  dangerous  character  that 
is  generated  or  produced  within  it,  and  to  secure  his 
living-rooms  against  the  entrance  of  any  manner 
of  foul  air,  impure  water,  or  excessive  dampness. 

It  would  not  be  possible  here  to  consider  the  very 
great  variety  of  circumstances  attending  the  loca- 
tion and  arrangement  of  different  houses.  It  will 
suffice  for  our  general  purposes  to  assume  that  all 
liquid  or  semi-liquid  drainage  from  the  house 
is  to  be  delivered  either  into  a  public  sewer,  into 
i  private  place  of  deposit,  or  directly  into  a  nat- 
al tl  water-course.  If  we  arrange  a  safe  means  for 


72       SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

discharging  our  outflows  at  a  sufficient  distance 
into  one  or  other  of  these,  for  the  exclusion  from 
the  house  of  gas  arising  from  their  decomposition, 
for  preventing  filtration  from  them  into  the  source 
of  our  domestic  water  and  for  excluding  soil-damp- 
ness, we  shall,  so  far  as  exterior  surroundings  are 
concerned,  accomplish  the  most  important  aim. 
General  rules  and  principles,  of  which  the  mod- 
ifications needed  in  particular  cases  will  quite  nat- 
urally suggest  themselves,  are  all  that  can  here  be 
given. 

The  individual  householder  has  these  problems  to 
solve  :  — 

1.  To  secure  his  house  against  excessive  damp  in 
its  walls,  in  its  cellar,  and,  where  practicable,  in  its 
surrounding  atmosphere. 

2.  To   provide   for  the  perfect  and  instant  re- 
moval of  all  manner  of  fluid  or  semi-fluid  organic 
wastes. 

3.  To  provide  a  sufficient  supply  of  pure  water 
for  domestic  use. 

4.  To  guard  against  the  evils  arising  from   the 
decomposition   of  organic   matter  in  or  under  the 
house. 

5.  To  remove  all  sources  of  offense  and  danger 
which  may  affect  the  atmosphere  about  the  house. 

6.  (And   almost   more    important   than   all   the 
rest.)     To  prevent  the  insidious  entrance  into  the 
hou&3,  through  communications  with  the  sewer,  cess- 
pool, or  vault,  of  poisonous  gases  resulting  from  the 
iecomposition  of  the  refuse  of  his  own  household 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.          73 

or  of  other  households  with  which  a  common  sewer 
or  drain  may  bring  him  into  communication. 

The  first  item  implies  a  dry  cellar,  an  impervious 
foundation  wall,  and,  if  the  soil  be  heavy  and  liable 
to  be  wet,  or  if  it  be  underlaid  too  closely  with 
rock  or  clay,  "  thorough  drainage,"  of  the  sort 
employed  in  the  agricultural  improvement  of  land. 
So  far  as  this  matter  of  drainage  is  concerned,  it 
will  suffice  to  refer  to  the  well-known  works  on 
agricultural  drainage  ;  but  the  drying  of  the  cellar 
and  foundation  receives  so  little  attention  at  the 
hands  of  both  owners  and  architects,  that  explicit 
directions  seem  advisable.  If  the  house  is  founded 
on  well-drained  gravel  or  on  a  dry  bed  of  sand 
(which  is  the  best  of  all  foundations)  no  further 
draining  will  be  necessary ;  but  even  here  it  is 
always  advisable  to  cover  the  floor  of  the  cellar 
with  an  impervious  concrete,  to  prevent  the  exhala- 
tion of  moisture  that  arises  from  even  the  dryest 
soil ;  and  in  all  cases  where  the  foundation  wall  is 
not  built  with  hard  and  impervious  stone,  it  should 
be  furnished  with  a  course  of  some  impervious 
material,  whether  hydraulic  cement,  asphalted  brick, 
bluestone,  slate  laid  in  cement,  or  sheet-lead.  An 
excellent  asphalt  for  an  impervious  course  in  the 
foundation  of  houses  is  made  of  two  parts  of  coal 
tar  and  one  part  of  pitch  with  three  handfuls  of 
quicklime  to  each  bucketful.  Even  with  this  precau- 
tion, if  the  foundation  wall  below  the  impervioas 
course  is  of  brick  or  soft  stone,  the  inner  surface  of 
the  wall  should  be  well  washed  with  pure  hydraa- 


74      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

lie  cement,  which  will  lessen  the  escape  of  the 
moisture  that  penetrates  the  stones  during  driving 
rain-storms,  or  soaks  into  them  from  the  earth. 

If  the  ground  is  at  all  inclined,  even  in  the  wet- 
test seasons,  to  be  wet  or  springy,  whatever  other 
precautions  are  taken,  a  drain  should  be  laid  all 
round  the  cellar  inside  of  the  wall,  and  at  least  a 
foot  lower  than  its  lowest  bed-stone,  and  carried 
away  to  a  free  and  sufficient  outlet.  This  drain 
may  be  made  of  gravel  or  broken  stones,  but  or- 
dinary land-drainage  tile  with  open  joints  is  usually 
cheaper  and  always  better,  especially  as  preventing 
the  ingress  of  vermin.  For  the  largest  private 
house,  the  smallest-sized  land-drain  tile  will  be  suf- 
ficient. If  the  soil  is  unduly  wet,  at  any  season, 
similar  drains  should  cross  the  cellar  at  intervals  of 
not  more  than  fifteen  feet.  All  of  these  drains 
should  have  a  slight  but  continuous  fall  toward  the 
outlet,  and  should  be  securely  covered  by  having 
earth  well  rammed  over  them,  the  whole  cellar 
bottom  being  then  coated  with  concrete.  For  small 
houses,  where  cobble-stones  or  gravel  are  plenty,  if 
the  foundation  rests  on  a  layer  of  this  porous  mate- 
rial a  foot  or  more  deep,  and  if  a  good  outlet 
be  provided  at  the  lowest  point,  the  tile  is  not 
needful. 

The  complete  drainage  of  the  house,  that  is,  the 
instant  removal  of  the  impurities  incident  to  human 
life,  is  the  crowning  work  of  the  whole  system  of 
»ewerage.  In  towns,  street  drains,  main  sewers 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES.  75 

outlets,  and  the  whole  paraphernalia  of  the  system 
have  for  their  main  purpose  the  furtherance  of  the 
ultimate  object  of  the  sanitary  drainage  of  the 
house  ;  and  the  effect  of  sewerage  on  the  health 
and  decency  of  the  population  must  depend  very 
much  upon  the  manner  in  which  each  house  is  pro- 
vided with  the  necessary  drainage  system  and  is 
connected  with  the  public  sewer. 

In  the  country,  whatever  the  final  means  of  re- 
moval, the  house  drainage,  whether  partial  or  com- 
plete, must  be  equally  guarded.  If  there  is  only  a 
kitchen  drain,  this  should  be  perfectly  well  made 
and  arranged. 

When  we  consider  its  immediate  proximity  to 
the  windows  of  the  room  in  which  the  family  of 
the  average  farmer  passes  most  of  its  time,  the 
kitchen  drain  probably  heads  the  list  of  all  the 
agents  by  which  our  ingenious  people  violate  the 
universal  sanitary  law;  and  it  doubtless  carries 
more  victims  to  the  grave  than  do  all  other  sources 
of  defilement  combined ;  for  with  an  enormous  ma- 
jority of  our  population  this  one  pipe  still  repre- 
sents the  whole  drainage  of  the  house. 

Receiving  daily  supplies  of  organic  matter  ready 
to  pass  into  dangerous  decomposition,  drenched 
with  sufficient  water  to  soak  far  into  the  ground, 
and  kept  warm  enough  for  putrefaction  to  proceed 
rapidly  throughout  J>  large  part  of  the  year ;  send- 
ing its  exhalations  into  the  kitchen  and  living-room 
windows,  and  with  &  favorable  summer  breeze 
throughout  the  whole  house  ;  and  leaking,  too  often, 


76      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

through  a  light  surface  soil,  or  through  a  porous 
stratum  in  a  clay  soil,  into  the  adjacent  well ;  it  at- 
tacks the  family  through  the  lungs  and  through  the 
stomach  with  an  almost  unremitted  assault,  soon 
achieving,  in  the  case  of  those  who  live  mainly  in 
close,  stove-heated  rooms  and  sleep  on  the  ground 
floor  with  a  window  opening  over  the  back-yard,  its 
various  measures  of  debility,  disease,  or  death. 

No  house  drain  can  be  made  which  may  not 
be  carelessly  obstructed  by  the  admission  of  sub- 
stances for  which  it  is  not  intended.  Shedd  enu- 
merates, among  the  articles  that  have  been  found 
in  such  drains,  "  sand,  shavings,  sticks,  coal,  bones, 
garbage,  bottles,  spoons,  knives,  forks,  apples,  po- 
tatoes, hay,  shirts,  towels,  stockings,  floor-cloths, 
broken  crockery,"  etc. 

House  drains  in  towns  should  of  course  be  laid 
at  the  expense  of  the  owner;  but,  as  they  are  a 
part  of  the  system  by  which  the  health  of  the  com- 
munity is  to  be  protected,  and  as  the  obstruction  of 
a  single  house  drain  may  establish  a  centre  of  in- 
fection for  a  large  district,  the  work  should  be  done 
in  accordance  with  an  established  rale  and  under 
the  immediate  supervision  of  an  engineer  having 
charge  of  sewerage  work. 

The  main  outlet  drain  from  a  house  may  be 
small,  and  even  for  the  largest  private  dwelling 
need  not  be  more  than  four  inches  in  diameter,  if 
proper  precaution  is  taken  to  prevent  its  being 
choked  by  the  accumulation  of  kitchen  grease 
while,  without  such  precaution,  were  it  even  a  foo* 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.          77 

in  diameter,  this  same  influence  would  cause  it  to 
be  ultimately  obstructed  by  gradual  accumulation. 
In  other  words,  with  a  proper  grease  trap,  a  four- 
inch  drain  will  furnish  an  ample  outlet,  while  with- 
out such  grease  trap  no  drain  can  be  relied  upon  to 
remain  permanently  effective. 

There  are  various  forms  of  grease  trap,  some 
with  open  gullies  for  ventilation  at  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  and  all  of  them  depending  upon  the 
congealing  of  the  grease  and  its  accumulation  at 
the  surface  of  water  which  has  its  outlet  at  a  point 
below  the  surface. 

The  removal  of  organic  wastes  is  the  chief  pur- 
pose of  all  house  drains,  whether  a  wooden  pipe 
from  the  kitchen  sink,  or  the  soil  pipe  of  a  house 
fitted  with  all  the  modern  plumbing  appliances.  It 
is  this  part  of  the  work  that  first  suggests  itself 
when  the  question  of  house  drainage  arises,  and  it 
is  too  often  to  this  only  that  attention  is  given. 

The  water-closet,  owing  to  its  convenience  and 
seeming  cleanliness,  has  made  its  way  to  almost 
universal  adoption,  in  spite  of  a  very  serious  defect 
which  is  generally  disregarded,  and,  indeed,  unrec- 
ognized. This  defect  consists  in  the  use  of  an  un- 
ventilated  chamber  between  the  sealing-pan  and 
the  water  trap  of  the  soil  pipe,  —  a  chamber  that 
is  always  more  or  less  foul,  and  where  faecal  gasea 
are  constantly  generated  No  means  are  provided, 
^.nd  no  perfect  means  could  be  provided,  for  the 
removal  of  these  gases,  which  are  sure  to  find  their 
way  more  or  less  into  the  atmosphere  of  the  house, 


78   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

if  only  by  transmission  through  the  water  seal 
Persons  living  in  the  country  think  that  they  can 
always  detect  the  odor  of  the  closet  on  entering  a 
city  house,  and  this  odor  is  very  often  due  to  the 
cause  here  indicated.  It  is  only  very  recently  that 
inventions  (the  Jennings  closet,  and  later,  Smith's 
closet)  have  been  made  which  entirely  overcome 
this  defect ;  although  several  other  forms  of  closet 
using  large  volumes  of  water  and  not  depending 
upon  a  tilting  pan  for  their  sealing  seem  to  es- 
cape it. 

Some  of  the  minor  devices  of  modern  plumbing 
seem  as  objectionable  as  they  are  convenient :  for 
example,  the  ordinary  fixed  wash-basin  having  a 
plug  at  its  bottom  effects  a  complete  separation  be- 
tween the  water  in  the  basin  and  the  foul,  soap- 
slimed  escape  pipe  below  it ;  but  the  more  conven- 
ient shut-off  cock  placed  some  distance  below  the 
basin  is  a  most  ingenious  arrangement  for  tainting 
the  water  in  the  basin,  which  is  in  free  communica- 
tion with  the  water  in  the  unclean  escape  pipe. 
How  readily  impurities  are  diffused  through  still 
water  is  shown  by  the  rapid  clouding  of  the  con- 
tents of  a  tumbler  to  which  a  used  tooth-brush  haa 
been  returned ;  the  invisible  solution  from  an  un- 
clean waste  pipe  spreads  with  equal  ease. 

It  is  now  quite  usual,  also,  to  ventilate  the  lower 
chamber  of  the  ordinary  water-closet,  and  this  is  to 
a  certain  extent  effective  for  the  purpose  intended 
but  it  does  not  accomplish  a  proper  ventilation  of 
the  soil  pipe,  and  it  alone  should  by  no  means  b« 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES.  79 

depended  on.  Indeed,  this  lower  chamber  is  always 
objectionable,  sending  forth  such  a  whiff  of  fetid 
air,  whenever  the  water  pan  is  emptied,  as  could 
come  only  from  a  confined,  dark,  and  wet  vessel 
where  the  most  offensive  matters  are  undergoing 
decomposition.  The  cheap  and  simple  siphon-closet, 
with  a  copious  flow  of  water,  or,  better,  the  Jenning8 
closet,  with  Blunt's  overflow,  or  Smith's  closet  with 
heated  ventilator,  are  types  of  the  only  satisfactory 
forms. 

In  the  country  and  in  villages,  where  each  house 
has  to  be  provided  not  only  with  the  ordinary  inte- 
rior arrangements,  but  also  with  means  for  the  dis- 
posal of  its  drainage  after  this  has  passed  beyond  its 
own  walls,  a  serious  further  difficulty  arises.  The 
usual  practice,  where  plumbing  is  introduced,  and 
very  often  where  only  the  water  of  the  kitchen  drain 
is  to  be  provided  for,  is  to  discharge  the  whole  mass 
into  a  cess-pool  not  very  far  away,  and  often  very 
near  to  the  well,  trusting  to  the  permeability  of  the 
earth  to  afford  an  outlet  through  the  uncemented 
wall.  The  objections  to  this  have  been  sufficiently 
stated,  and  the  remedy  is  not  in  all  cases  an  easy  one. 

There  is  no  royal  road  of  escape  from  the  respon- 
sibility that  the  production  of  effete  matters  entails 
upon  us.  If  they  can  be  run  by  a  cemented  drain 
into  a  water-course,  or  elsewhere,  far  enough  away 
from  human  habitations  to  be  unobjectionable,  this 
course  may  be  allowed ;  but  in  the  great  majority  of 
instances '  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  provide  for 
their  defoccation  in  some  inoffensive  manner  or  for 


80      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

their  inoffensive  removal  by  carts  to  the  country 
The  one  thing  that  should  never  be  allowed  in  a  vil- 
lage, and  which  should  even  be  regarded  with  great 
caution  in  the  case  of  an  isolated  house,  is  the  ordi- 
nary leaching  cess-pool. 

The  importance  of  a  close  attention  to  the  details 
of  household  drainage  cannot  be  overestimated.  In 
a  paper  on  the  Health  of  the  Farmers  of  Massachu- 
setts, Dr.  Adams  of  Pittsfield  says :  "  There  is  no 
dwelling  in  the  State,  of  any  class,  which  possesses 
an  absolute  immunity  from  these  causes"  (the  vicin- 
ity of  putrescent  animal  and  vegetable  matter) ; 
"for  they  are  often  so  hidden  and  subtile  as  to  elude 
the  search  not  only  of  the  landlord,  but  also  of  the 
most  vigilant  health  officer." 

The  securing  of  pure  drinking-water  for  the 
household  can  hardly  claim  full  attention  here,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  drinking-water  wells  are  concerned ; 
although  the  extent  to  which  water  coming  from 
public  works  is  contaminated  by  an  injudicious  ar- 
rangement of  supply  pipes  and  soil  pipes  is  often 
alarming,  as  was  suggested  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter. 

Quite  generally,  country  houses  and  houses  in 
villages  and  towns  depend  entirely  upon  drinking- 
water  wells  for  their  supply,  and  the  degree  to 
which  these  wells  are  rendered  dangerous  by  what 
is  called  "surface  water" — that  is,  rain-water  pass- 
ing over  or  through  a  surface  soil  made  foul  by 
jiouse  slops,  kitchen  refuse,  etc.  —  is  more  that 
ilarming.  The  purity  of  the  water  in  any  well  de- 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES.  SI 

pends  almost  entirely  on  the  ability  of  the  earth 
through  which  it  descends  to  deprive  it,  by  filtra- 
tion, of  its  organic  impurities.  It  is  always  a  ques- 
tion between  the  amount  and  character  of  the  filter- 
ing material,  and  the  amount  and  character  of  the 
impurity.  In  a  deep,  porous  soil,  where  the  water- 
table  lies  at  a  great  depth,  and  where  the  rain-water 
descends  vertically  to  the  line  of  saturation  below, 
there  is  little  danger,  unless  the  grossest  fouling  of 
the  surface  in  the  immediate  vicinity  is  constant 
and  long-continued ;  but  where  the  water  level  if 
near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  where  the  soil  hat 
an  impervious  stratum  a  few  feet  below  the  surface, 
or  where  the  well  is  supplied  through  rock  fissures 
or  gravel  seams  which  open  near  to  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  the  most  serupulous  cleanliness  is  needed 
to  prevent  contamination. 

Fresh  earth  is  a  capital  purifying  filter,  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  its  filtering  power  is  renewed 
depends  upon  the  freedom  with  which  air  circulates 
within  it,  the  purification  being  in  nearly  all  case? 
a  process  of  oxidation.  In  a  deep  and  porous  soil, 
as  the  water  of  a  rain-storm  settles  away,  it  is  im- 
mediately followed  by  the  entrance  of  air  from  the 
surface,  and  the  oxidation  may  be  complete ;  but  in 
clay  and  in  other  impervious  soils,  the  entrance  of 
air  being  much  more  slow  and  difficult,  the  impuri- 
ties accumulate  and  the  foulness  increases  and  too 
often  becomes  permanent.  In  soil  of  this  character 
the  curbing  of  the  well  should  be  laid  in  cement  for 
some  distance  below  the  surface,  and  wet  clay  should 

6 


82      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

be  closely  puddled  round  the  curbing,  to  prevent 
the  trickling  down  of  water  between  this  and  the 
solid  earth.  The  greater  the  distance  between  the 
surface  of  the  ground  and  the  point  at  which  water 
first  oozes  from  the  earth  into  the  well,  the  greater 
the  safety. 

The  above  refers  only  to  the  fouling  of  wells  by 
the  leaching  down  of  impurities  thrown  upon  or 
accumulating  in  the  surface  soil.  A  much  more  fre- 
quent and  much  more  serious  source  of  mischief  is 
their  contamination  by  foul  water  leaking  from 
badly  made  house  drains  or  flowing  laterally  from 
cess-pools  or  vaults,  —  our  own  or  our  near  or  dis- 
tant neighbors',  —  or  the  trickling  down  through 
gravel  seams  in  heavy  soils  or  porous  fissures  in  rock 
of  the  surface  liquid  of  adjacent  or  remote  barn- 
yards. When  porous  strata  in  rock  or  earth  bring 
the  site  of  the  cess-pool  into  communication  with 
the  site  of  the  well,  the  danger  is  immediate  and 
constant  until  the  cess-pool  is  made  absolutely  tight. 

The  more  insidious  process  is  that  of  the  gradual 
fouling  of  the  semi-porous  earth  lying  between  the 
source  of  the  impurity  and  the  drinking-water  well. 
In  such  cases  the  exudation  is  usually  quite  or  nearly 
sonstant ;  there  is  little  opportunity  for  the  air  to 
restore  the  filtering  power  of  the  soil,  and  it  becomes 
saturated  with  impurity  inch  by  inch,  until,  perhaps 
after  a  month  or  perhaps  after  several  years,  the  sat- 
uration reaches  the  well ;  then  every  drop  oozing  in 
from  this  source  carries  with  it  its  atom  cf  filth. 
While  the  supply  of  water  in  the  ground  is  copious, 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES.  83 

and  while  there  is  more  or  less  circulation  through 
the  water  veins,  the  foulness  may  be  too  much 
diluted  to  do  harm ;  but  in  dry  seasons,  when  the 
supply  recedes  to  a  depth  of  only  a  few  feet  at  the 
bottom  of  the  well,  the  contribution  of  drain  water 
continuing  the  same,  the  dose  becomes  sufficient  to 
produce  its  poisonous  effect. 

The  dangerous  character  of  the  water  of  such 
wells,  is  often  manifested  by  no  odor  or  taste  of 
organic  matter ;  the  chemical  changes  in  this  mat- 
ter seem  to  have  been  carried  so  far,  as  to  yield 
little  more  than  vivifying  nitrates  to  the  water, 
their  organic  character  having  entirely  disappeared. 
Indeed,  some  of  the  most  dangerous  well-waters, 
are  especially  sparkling  and  refreshing  to  the  taste. 
But  the  chemical  processes  which  have  effected  this 
change,  appear  to  have  had  no  effect  on  the  germs 
of  disease  —  if  germs  they  be  —  which  retain  their 
injurious  character  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  worst 
results  have  often  come  from  the  use  of  water  that 
was  especially  sparkling  and  pleasant  as  a  bever- 
age. 

The  bad  effects  of  organic  decomposition,  are 
nowhere  more  manifest  than  when  it  takes  place  in 
an  unventilated  cellar. 

That  large  part  of  the  American  people  who 
were  born  and  bred  in  the  country,  will  appreciate 
the  following  quotation  from  Judge  French,  describ- 
ing childhood's  experiences  with  New  England  cel- 
lars :  "  You  creep  part  way  down  the  cellar  -stairs, 


84      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

with  only  the  light  of  a  single  tallow-candle,  and 
behold  by  its  dim  glimmer  an  expanse  of  dark 
water  boundless  as  the  sea.  On  its  surface,  in  dire 
confusion,  float  barrels  and  boxes,  butter-firkins, 
wash-tubs,  boards,  planks,  hoops  and  staves,  with- 
out number,  interspersed  with  apples,  turnips,  and 
cabbages,  while  half-drowned  rats  and  mice,  scram- 
bling up  the  stair-way  for  dear  life,  drive  you 
affrighted  back  to  the  kitchen."  This  will  seem  to 
many  like  exaggeration,  but  probably  throughout 
all  America,  one  half  of  the  population  which  lives 
over  cellars  at  all,  lives  over  cellars  which,  at  some 
time  during  the  year,  approach  the  condition  de- 
scribed. 

All  this  nastiness  and  wet  and  confined  rnoldi- 
ness  and  stagnation,  must  inevitably  foul  the  air  of 
the  whole  house,  rendering  it  impure  to  a  degree 
that  makes  us  wonder  how  human  beings,  if  they 
can  live  at  all,  can  live  in  even  tolerable  health  in 
such  abodes. 

A  medical  correspondent  of  the  Massachusetts 
Board  of  Health,  gives  an  account  of  the  cellar  of 
a  house  in  Hadley,  built  by  a  clergyman,  which 
had  an  uncovered  well  within  it,  and  into  which  a 
sink  drain  with  its  deposit-box  had  full  opportunity 
to  discharge  its  gases,  there  being  no  proper  venti- 
.ation  to  the  drain  or  box.  The  cellar  was  also 
used  for  the  storage  of  vegetables,  and  its  windows 
were  never  taken  out.  There  was  no  escape  for 
the  damp  and  foul  air  of  the  cellar,  save  through 
Hie  crevices  of  the  floors  into  the  rooms  above. 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.          85 

"  After  a  few  months'  residence  in  the  house,  the 
minister's  wife  died,  of  fever,  so  far  as  I  can  learn. 
He  soon  married  again,  and  within  one  year  of  the 
death  of  the  first  wife  the  second  died,  from,  as  I 
understand,  the  same  disease.  His  children  were 
also  sick.  He  lived  in  the  house  about  two  years. 

The  next  occupant  was  a  man  named  B .  His 

wife  was  desperately  sick.  A  physician  then  took 
the  house.  He  mai'ried,  and  his  wife  died  of  the 
fever.  Another  physician  was  the  next  occupant, 
and  he,  within  a  few  months,  came  near  dying  of 
erysipelas.  All  this  time  matters  had  remained  as 
before  described,  with  reference  to  ventilation." 
After  this  a  school-teacher  took  the  house,  and  made 
some  unimportant  changes.  "  The  sickness  and 
the  fatality  of  the  property  became  so  marked,  that 
the  property  became  unsalable.  When  last  sold, 
every  sort  of  prediction  was  made  as  to  the  risk  of 
occupancy,  but  by  a  thorough  attention  to  sanitary 
conditions,  no  such  risks  have  been  encountered." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  recur  to  extreme  in- 
stances of  cellar  foulness,  such  as  those  above  de- 
scribed, to  convince  any  person  of  ordinary  in- 
telligence that  in  a  confined  and  dimly-lighted 
atmosphere,  like  that  of  an  ordinary  cellar,  all  de- 
composition of  organic  matter  must  result  in  the 
production  of  gases  unfit  for  human  breathing. 

We  especially  need  a  condition  of  air,  that  can 
be  maintained  only  under  the  influence  of  light  and 
;ree  ventilation.  The  great  difficulty  with  our  cel- 
lars is,  that  as  they  have  a  more  or  less  complete 


86      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

communication  with  the  house  through  open  doors, 
imperfectly  laid  floors,  etc.,  and  as  the  law  of  the 
transfusion  of  gases  is  constantly  operating  even 
though  the  means  of  communication  may  be  im- 
perfect, their  unceasing  tendency  day  and  night  is 
to  communicate  their  impurities  to  the  air  of  the 
house.  Where  floors  are  deafened  and  where  the 
ceiling  of  the  cellar  is  lath-and-plastered,  the  dan- 
ger is  much  less  than  where  there  is  only  a  single 
thickness  of  boards  with  imperfect  joints  to  check 
the  communication  ;  but  no  matter  how  perfect  the 
separation  may  be,  everything  like  the  decomposi- 
tion of  vegetable  or  animal  matter  should  be  studi- 
ously avoided,  and  there  should  be  at  all  times  a 
free  (though  slight)  circulation  of  air  in  the  cellar. 

To  live  in  a  house  standing  amid  offensive  and 
dangerous  surroundings,  is  under  no  circumstances 
either  necessary  or  excusable.  It  has  been  well 
said,  that  no  man  is  so  poor  that  he  need  have  his 
pig-trough  at  his  front  door,  or  that  he  need  throw 
his  slops  under  his  dining-room  window.  No  place 
is  so  small  that  it  need  contain  a  fermenting  man- 
ure heap,  within  dangerous  proximity  to  the  house  ; 
either  the  fermentation  must  be  arrested,  or  the 
accumulation  must  be  entirely  avoided.  No  yard 
is  so  flat  that  the  slops  of  the  house  may  not  be 
drained  away  to  a  sufficient  distance  for  safety.  In 
short,  there  are  in  this  world  no  circumstances  unfit 
for  wholesome  living,  which  may  not  be  either  over 
•jome  or  run  away  from. 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES.  87 

To  live  wrongly  is  a  danger  and  a  disgrace  to  the 
individual.  To  permit  such  wrong  living  is  more 
than  a  danger  and  a  disgrace  to  the  community  , 
it  is  a  criminal  menace  to  its  own  health  and  life. 
Nc  special  rules  and  regulations  need  be  given  here 
for  the  avoidance  of  palpable  sources  of  danger  ; 
all  that  is  necessary  is  studiously  to  avoid  the  re- 
tention of  accumulations  of  organic  filth  of  what- 
ever description. 

In  the  living  of  every  family  there  is  a  certain 
necessary  production  of  waste  organic  matter.  In 
the  economy  of  nature  all  such  waste  is  destined 
to  return  to  its  elementary  condition  and  to  become 
a  part  of  the  air  or  soil  or  sea,  awaiting  its  renewed 
use  in  feeding  plant  life.  Man  has  learned  how  to 
avail  himself  of  nature's  organic  products  to  supply 
his  demand  for  food  and  clothing.  He  seems  not 
yet  to  have  learned  how  to  hand  back  to  the  realm 
of  nature  the  refuse  that  is  not  useful  to  him,  in 
such  a  way  as  to  avoid  the  injury  with  which  its 
neglect  threatens  him.  Were  each  man  dependent 
only  on  the  conditions  in  and  about  his  own  house, 
rt  would  be  safer  than  it  now  is  to  leave  the  needed 
reformation  to  individual  action  ;  but  unfortunately 
all  in  the  community  are  dependent  for  life  and 
health  more  completely  than  they  realize  on  the 
condition  and  surroundings  of  their  poorest  and 
most  ignorant  neighbor. 

The  public  has  long  asserted  and  exercised  its 
fight  to  abate  nuisances,  but  its  definition  of  the 
term  "  nuisance "  begins  at  a  point  far  removed 


88   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

from  the  stricter  sanitary  limit.  Our  communities 
seem  not  yet  to  realize  that  they  have  a  clear  right 
to  the  health  and  strength  of  their  individual  mem- 
bers, and  especially  to  insist  that  no  man  shall,  by 
incurring  the  risk  of  disease  in  his  own  family,  en- 
danger others  to  whom  his  disease  may  be  com- 
municated. The  stamping-out  process  must  extend 
to  the  very  bottom  of  society,  and  if  we  apply  our- 
selves to  the  stamping  out  of  causes,  the  effect  (in- 
fectious disease)  will  not  demand  our  attention. 

If  slops  thrown  out  at  the  kitchen  door  of  the 
poorest  house  in  the  town  threaten  the  health  of 
those  living  in  that  house,  all  who  may  eventually 
suffer  from  the  sickness  beginning  in  that  family 
have  as  clear  a  right  to  prevent  the  cause  as  they 
would  have  to  put  the  family  in  quarantine  were 
they  suffering  from  small-pox. 

The  art  of  purveying  has  been  brought  very  near 
to  perfection,  and  it  may  well  be  left  to  the  com- 
mercial instincts  of  those  whose  business  it  is ;  but 
the  hardly  less  important  art  of  scavenging  has 
received  from  the  outset  nothing  but  the  sheerest 
neglect.  It  is  as  yet  hardly  in  its  infancy  ;  if  we 
can  hide  our  filth  away  underground,  shove  it  down 
the  gutter  to  our  neighbors'  premises,  or  secrete 
it  in  one  of  those  fermenting  retorts,  a  public  sewer 
(as  usually  constructed),  we  think  we  have  done 
all  that  our  own  safety  requires  of  us,  and  the 
lafety  of  others  we  have  not  yet  learned  to  regard. 
But  our  own  safety  is  by  no  means  secured  ;  we  are 
fclways  in  danger  from  our  neglected  wastes,  and  io 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES.  89 

proportion  as  we  and  others  use  the  common  sewer 
do  they  endanger  us  and  we  them. 

That  precursor  of  the  sewer,  the  receptacle  in  our 
own  yards,  is  certainly  less  dangerous  than  its  mod- 
ern substitute,  but  it  is  usually  very  far  from  being 
a  safe  neighbor  to  even  an  isolated  house.  As 
houses  accumulate,  the  risk  from  it  increases. 

I  was  recently  conversing  with  an  intelligent 
builder  about  the  construction  of  a  contemplated 
cess-pool. 

"It  is  useless  to  suppose  that  in  such  heavy 
ground  a  filtering  cess-pool  can  very  long  answer 
a  good  purpose." 

"  I  don't  know  how  that  is,  but  my  own  cess-pool 
in  similar  ground  has  been  in  constant  use  for  eight 
years  without  being  cleaned  out,  and  it  works  all 
right  yet." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  it  is  not  leaching  into 
your  well  ?  " 

"  Be'  ause  I  put  my  well  a  good  distance  away 
from  it,  on  the  up-hill  side." 

"  How  about  your  neighbors'  wells,  down  the  hill 
below  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know  anything  about  them  ;  that 's 
their  lookout." 

The  fact  is  that  the  whole  hill-side  near  the  top 
<  f  which  this  man  lives  is  supplied  with  alternate 
less-pools  and  wells,  and  there  is  every  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  porous  strata  through  which  the 
jess-pools  are  emptied  are  the  very  strata  from  which 
the  wells  are  filled. 


90      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

It  is  not  to  be  understood  that  the  ordinary  out- 
house vault  is  necessarily  a  source  of  danger ;  there 
is  enough  to  be  said  against  this  arrangement  on 
the  score  of  convenience  and  of  decency  to  serve  as 
an  argument  for  its  abolition  ;  but  if  it  be  cemented 
perfectly  tight,  and  if  its  contents  be  daily  disin- 
fected with  carbolic  acid,  sulphate  of  iron,  or  other 
suitable  chemical  addition,  there  is  no  fear  of  either 
the  poisoning  or  the  dangerous  fouling  of  the  air. 

So,  too,  if  it  be  used  only  for  its  legitimate  pur- 
poses, if  no  liquid  matter  of  any  sort  be  poured 
into  it,  and  if  it  have  a  copious  daily  sprinkling  of 
ashes  or  dry  earth,  it  will  be  equally  free  from  sani- 
tary objection. 

But  if  these  precautions  are  not  adopted  and 
carried  into  effect  under  a  rigid  supervision,  there 
is  certainly  no  single  appurtenance  of  the  life  of  an 
ordinary  household  so  fraught  with  danger  and 
annoyance  to  all  who  live  within  reach  of  its  in- 
fluence. 

In  all  towns  and  villages  where  this  expedient  is 
allowed  to  remain  in  use,  the  strongest  and  most 
persistent  effort  of  the  health  authorities,  reinforced 
with  full  power  for  the  infliction  of  penalties,  should 
be  devoted  to  the  regular,  frequent,  and  efficient 
supervision  and  inspection  of  every  out-of-door 
closet  of  whatever  description.  The  removal  of  the 
contents  should  never  be  left  to  the  uncontrolled 
action  of  the  proprietor,  but  should  be  carried  out 
by  well-directed  workmen  in  the  employment  of 
the  board,  or  at  least  under  its  direct  inspection. 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES.  91 

However  perfect  the  ventilation  of  sewers  or  cess- 
pools, the  safety  of  individual  families  and  of  all  to 
whom  they  may  communicate  disease  demands  a 
careful  attention  to  the  ventilation  of  the  house 
drain.  It  is  chiefly  through  this  drain  that  cess-pool 
and  sewer  gas  finds  its  way  into  the  house,  and  the 
house  drain  itself  will  be  relatively  more  foul  than 
will  the  public  sewer  which  takes  also  the  wash  of 
streets.  Dust  and  foul  matters  of  various  sorts  are 
very  apt  to  accumulate  with  the  congealed  grease 
that  so  frequently  coats  the  sides  of  the  drain. 
Therefore,  so  far  as  the  house  itself  is  concerned,  its 
greatest  source  of  danger  lies  in  the  return  to  its 
rooms  of  the  emanations  from  its  own  offscourings, 
entering  through  the  water  traps  or  through  leaks 
in  the  pipes,  whether  such  return  be  caused  by  their 
own  expansive  force  or  by  the  pressure  of  the  sewer 
air  behind  them.  Chemical  disinfection  can,  at  best, 
afford  only  temporary  relief.  Dr.  Simon  says  on 
the  subject  of  the  disinfection  of  houses  which  are 
said  to  have  offensive  smells  or  which  inspectors 
find  in  a  stinking  state,  "  It  cannot  be  too  distinctly 
understood  that  cleanliness  and  ventilation  and  dry- 
ness,  are  the  proper  deodorizers  of  houses,  and  that 
artificial  deodorizers  will  no  more  serve  in  their 
.jtead  than,  in  regard  of  perfumes,  these  could  serve 
instead  of  soap  and  water." 

The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  Dr.  Robert 
Angus  Smith's  work  on  "  Disinfectants  and  Disin- 
fection." 

"Animal   matter,  which  chiefly  is  found   to   be 


92      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

dangerous,  is,  in  fact,  the  fasces  or  dejecta  of  human 
beings  and  of  cattle.  It  might  be  supposed  that 
these  substances  had  already  been  decomposed,  but 
such  is  not  the  case.  The  decomposition  is  very 
imperfect,  and  when  they  are  allowed  to  stand  pu- 
trefaction sets  in,  closely  allied  to,  perhaps  exactly 
the  same,  as  that  which  takes  place  in  other  animal 
matters,  such  as  blood,  or  in  a  mixture  of  flesh  and 
water.  When  these  substances  decompose,  the  re- 
sult is,  so  far  as  we  know,  nearly  the  same  as  the 
decomposition  of  the  entire  animal  body.  We  are 
not  able  to  tell  the  difference  between  the  products 
of  putrefaction  from  our  cess-pools  and  those  from 
our  graveyards.  The  problem,  then,  of  preserving 
meat,  or  of  preserving  the  entire  animal  from  cor- 
ruption, and  the  problem  of  preserving  sewage  and 
fasces  from  decomposition,  become  entirely  one  and 
the  same.  We  are  required  to  do  for  the  fasces  that 
which  the  Egyptians  did  for  their  bodies,  until  they 
shall  be  thrown  upon  the  ground,  and  mixed  with 
the  soil  and  become  the  food  of  plants 

"  Every  substance  in  fine  powder  disinfects  — 
dust  of  all  kinds,  whether  platinum  powder  or  pow- 
der of  sandstone.  The  surface  is  enormously  in- 
creased in  such  bodies,  and  surfaces  attract  the  air, 
which  is  confined  and  pressed  into  service,  causing 
mere  active  oxidation,  and  therefore  more  purifica- 
tion  

"  Pettenkofer  says  that  carbolic  acid  preserves 
jaert  the  ferment  cells,  but  when  it  is  removed  they 
Decome  active.  If  this  is  true,  the  disinfectant 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.          93 

must  be  used  continuously,  and  the  impure  matter 
must  be  cleared  away  continuously,  whilst  soon  in 
time,  and  especially  in  the  earth  the  infectious 
matter  will  die 

"One  may  very  correctly  look  on  the  soil  as 
the  greatest  agent  for  purifying  and  disinfecting. 
Every  impurity  is  thrown  on  it  in  abundance,  and 
yet  it  is  pure,  and  the  breathing  of  air  having  the 
odor  of  the  soil  has,  on  what  exact  evidence  I  do 
not  know,  but  very  generally,  been  considered 
wholesome." 

It  is  by  no  means  enough  to  establish  even  the 
most  perfect  water  trap  in  the  line  of  a  house  drain. 
It  is  of  at  least  equal  importance  that  there  should 
be  a  free  vent  for  the  escape  of  all  air  from  the  sewer 
and  all  gases  generated  within  the  house  drain  or  in 
the  soil  pipe,  not  into  the  attic  of  the  house  nor  at 
its  eaves,  near  sleeping-room  windows,  but  well  up 
through  and  above  the  highest  point  of  the  roof. 

House-drain  ventilators  are  often  introduced  into 
chimneys,  but  they  are  nearly  as  often  removed 
after  a  short  trial.  So  long  as  there  is  a  constant 
upward  draft  in  the  chimney,  this  disposition  of  the 
gases  is  good  enough,  but  when  no  fires  are  used, 
the  chimney  frequently  becomes  a  down-cast  shaft, 
or  when  gusts  of  wind  drive  the  smoke  or  the  soot- 
gmelling  air  into  rooms,  the  ventilator  gas  is  sure  to 
accompany  it. 

House  drains  are  even  more  liable  to  changes  of 
temperature,  and  therefore  more  subject  to  a  vary- 
'ng  pressure  of  the  air  within  them,  thai*  are  sewers 
if  themselves. 


94      SANITARY    DRAINAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

What  is  known  under  the  general  term  "  sewei 
gas  "  is  the  emanation  from  waste  matters  under- 
going decomposition  in  the  absence  of  free  air  ami 
light,  and  in  the  presence  of  water,  whether  in  a 
sewer,  a  house  drain,  a  cess-pool,  a  vault,  or  a  foul, 
wet,  and  unventilated  cellar.  It  frequently  exists 
in  the  case  of  a  detached  country  house,  and  is 
never  absent  from  a  town  sewer,  though  it  is  possi- 
ble in  the  case  of  these,  by  perfect  ventilation, 
greatly  to  lessen  its  production,  and  so  to  dilute  it 
as  to  prevent  its  doing  serious  harm. 

Poisonous  sewer  gas  cannot  be  clearly  defined. 
It  is  known  chiefly  by  its  effect ;  even  its  odor  is 
rarely  a  marked  one,  and  danger  is  believed  to  lurk 
not  so  much  in  those  foul  stenches  which  appeal  to 
our  senses,  as  in  the  odorless,  mawkish  exhalations 
which  first  announce  themselves  by  headache  and 
debility.  This  gas,  in  its  most  dangerous  form,  is 
believed  to  be  some  product  of  organic  matter 
undergoing  decomposition  in  the  presence  of  super- 
abundant water,  and  in  the  absence  of  light  and 
free  ventilation. 

It  may  be  present  without  detection ;  and,  in 
addition  to  its  frequent  passing  of  the  usual  water 
traps,  it  is  largely  drawn  into  our  living-rooms  by 
the  draught  of  heated  chimneys  when  their  demand 
for  air  is  not  abundantly  supplied  through  other 
and  easier  channels  of  ingress. 

Furthermore,  soil  pipes,  as  frequently  constructed, 
crack  or  open  their  joints,  by  the  frequent  expan 
nion  and  contraction  that  alternate  floods  of  hot  and 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES.  95 

cold  water  occasion,  and   thus   give  vent  to   their 


It  is  well  known  that  leaden  waste  pipes  decay 
and  frequently  become  so  perforated  as  to  allow  the 
escape  of  gas  into  the  house.  This  decay  always 
takes  place  from  the  inside,  and  generally  at  the 
upper  sides  of  a  pipe  running  in  a  horizontal  or  ob- 
lique direction  ;  that  is,  in  the  horizontal  pipe  lead- 
ing from  a  closet  to  the  descending  soil  pipe  more 
often  than  in  the  descending  soil  pipe  itself.  If 
there  is  a  bend  in  the  pipe  the  perforation  occurs  in 
its  upper  part.  It  usually  occurs  first  in  the  highest 
pipes  in  the  house.  The  perforation  is  very  much 
the  most  rapid  in  the  entire  absence  of  ventilation. 
If  the  ventilation  is  by  means  of  free  and  clear 
openings  above  and  below,  the  corrosion  amounts  to 
very  little. 

The  fact  that  the  point  of  attack  lies  in  that  part 
of  the  pipe  which  is  not  covered  with  water,  and 
more  especially  in  the  higher  portions,  —  to  which 
heated  sewer  gas  at  once  rises,  and  where  it  ac- 
cumulates, —  indicates  clearly  that  the  corrosive 
action  is  due  to  the  resultant  gases  of  faecal  de- 
composition and  not  to  the  liquid  contents  of  the 
pipe.  As  the  corrosion  begins  on  the  inside  of 
the  pipe,  and  at  a  point  where  perforation  would 
not  ordinarily  cause  leakage,  it  is  very  likely  to  bo 
overlooked,  even  when  sought  for  by  a  plumber 
appyling  the  usual  tests  for  leakage. 

The  diseases  resulting  to  the  inmates  of  the  house 
from  this  condition  of  the  pipes,  and  from  other 


96      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

means  for  the  admission  of  sewer  gas,  are  those  usu- 
ally caused  by  excrementitious  poisoning:  namely, 
typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  diarrhoea,  cerebro-spinal 
meningitis,  scarlet  fever,  etc. ;  and  it  is  always  safe 
to  advise  any  one  in  whose  house  such  diseases  ap- 
pear, to  uncover  his  soil  pipes  and  have  them  thor- 
oughly examined.  Dr.  Fergus,  in  his  pamphlet 
"  The  Sewage  Question :  with  special  reference  to 
traps  and  pipes  "  (Glasgow,  1874),  says  :  "  Lead  has 
generally  been  used  as  the  material  for  soil  pipes, 
and  as  we  have  seen  how  capable  it  is  of  corrosion, 
it  becomes  a  very  important  sanitary  question  to  in- 
quire how  long  a  good  lead  soil  pipe  will  hold  out. 
I  have  been  studying  this  question  for  years,  and  it 
is  now  about  seven  years  since  I  first  exhibited  de- 
cayed pipes  in  public,  yet,  I  would  not  wish  to  dog- 
matize on  the  subject,  but  rather  give  approxima- 
tions, and  would  remark  that  the  time  will  vary 
under  the  various  circumstances  according  to  the' 
strength  and  rapidity  of  the  flow  of  the  sewage,  as 
well  as  the  original  thickness  of  the  pipe.  But  after 
allowing  for  this,  we  must  broadly  distinguish  be- 
tween soil  pipes  which  are  ventilated  and  those 
which  are  not.  By  the  former  I  mean  when  the 
pipe  is  carried  up  to  the  roof  of  the  house  and  open 
to  the  external  air ;  by  the  latter,  I  mean  when  the 
pipes  are  closed  up.  Of  these  last  mentioned,  the 
duration  may  be  stated  to  be  about  twelve  years, 
the  extremes  of  variation  being  from  a  minimum  of 
eight  to  a  maximum  of  twenty  years.  In  ventilated 
oipes  the  duration  may  be  stated  to  be  nearly  double 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES.  97 

running  from  twenty-one  to  thirty-three  years,  the 
extremes  of  variation  being  from  eighteen  to  thirty 
or  even  more  years.  The  practical  sanitary  conclu- 
sion which  it  concerns  us  all  to  keep  in  mind  is,  that 
any  house,  no  matter  how  carefully  or  well  built, 
may  become  unhealthy  from  this  source,  and  that 
when  cases  of  typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  etc.,  occur, 
the  pipes  should  be  thoroughly  inspected,  especially 
their  upper  surface,  and  the  whole  of  the  soil  pipe 
uncovered.  I  must  strongly  insist  on  this,  as  in 
many  cases  the  plumbers  have  declared  pipes  to  be 
all  right,  which  turned  out  to  be  very  defective  when 
uncovered.  For  some  years  back,  I  have  insisted 
on  a  careful  examination  of  the  soil  pipes  wherever 
I  have  cases  of  typhoid  or  diphtheria,  and  in  every 
case  where  I  could  get  this  carefully  carried  out,  I 
have  detected  these  perforated  pipes,  or  sewer  air 
getting  into  the  houses  in  some  other  way." 

One  of  the  other  ways  he  believes  to  be  by  the 
transfusion  of  the  gas  through  the  water  of  tho 
trap,  which  he  seems  clearly  to  have  detected.  In 
experiments  with  glass  pipes  having  bends  or  water 
traps  it  was  found  that  the  light  gases  passed  through 
by  the  top  of  the  bend,  and  the  heavy  gases  by  the 
bottom.  "  The  action  of  the  gas  was  curious.  It 
was  found,  first,  to  saturate  the  surface  of  the  water 
next  to  it  in  the  trap  ;  then  to  sink  down  in  a  fine 
Btream,  and  then  gradually  travel  through  to  the 
other  or  house  side  of  the  trap,  when  it  again  spread 
out  and  began  to  diffuse  itself  both  into  the  atmos- 
phere above  it  and  downward  through  the  water 

7 


98      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

also."  More  recently  Dr.  Fergus  made  a  series  of 
experiments  with  a  bent  tube,  the  bend  being  filled 
with  water  after  the  manner  of  the  usual  trap.  In 
the  sewer  end  of  the  tube  he  inserted  a  small  vessel 
containing  a  solution  of  ammonia.  In  fifteen  min- 
utes the  ammonia  had  passed  through  the  water  of 
the  trap,  and  had  bleached  the  colored  litmus  paper 
exposed  at  the  house  end.  In  another  experiment 
he  produced  the  rapid  corrosion  of  a  metal  wire  ex- 
posed at  the  house  end.  To  prove  that  this  trans- 
mission takes  place  not  only  with  ammonia,  which 
is  lighter  than  air,  he  made  the  same  experiment 
with  sulphurous  acid,  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  chlo- 
rine, and  carbonic  acid,  all  of  which  were  transmitted 
so  as  to  produce  their  chemical  effect  on  the  other 
side  of  the  trap  in  from  one  to  four  hours. 

Dr.  Carpenter  of  Croydon,  England,  says,  "  The 
demands  of  air  for  fires  and  for  respiration  must  be 
supplied  from  some  source,  and  as  the  easiest  means 
of  access  is  often  the  communication  between  the 
house  and  the  sewer,  the  poisonous  gases  which  are 
lightest,  and  therefore  in  the  highest  parts  of  the 
drains  nearest  at  hand,  are  first  drawn  in." 

He  gives  the  following  means  by  which  the  ad- 
mission of  these  gases  is  obtained :  through  the 
water-closet  trap,  when  the  soil  pipe  itself  is  unven- 
tilated ;  through  defective  joints  or  fissures  in  the 
Boil  pipe,  resulting  from  bad  workmanship,  accident, 
or  decay;  through  the  waste  pipes  of  house-maids' 
ginks,  butlers'  sinks,  kitchen  sinks,  and  untrapped 
bath  outlets ;  through  the  overflow  pipe  from  wash 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES.  99 

basins,  etc.  He  especially  emphasizes  the  emptying 
of  the  traps  by  siphon-like  suction,  or,  where  the 
trap  is  not  constantly  used,  by  the  evaporation  of 
the  sealing  water.  He  thinks  that  not  one  trap  in 
ten  thousand  is  properly  protected,  and  that  with- 
out protection  they  are  worse  than  useless. 

The  healthful  arrangement  of  the  water  supply 
and  drainage  of  the  house  in  its  minutest  details 
ought  to  be  a  chief  care  of  the  architect,  whereas,  in 
practice,  it  is  almost  invariably  left  to  a  plumber, 
doing  the  work  too  often  by  contract,  and  having  no 
conception  of  what  is  needed,  —  only  of  what  has 
h'therto  been  done. 

Evils  resulting  from  the  admission  of  sewer  gas 
into  living-rooms  are  popularly  called  "  accidents," 
but  they  are  accidents  which  may  always  be  fore- 
known and  the  prevention  of  which  is  perfectly  un- 
derstood ;  they  are  no  longer  accidents,  but  gross 
faults  of  commission. 

Until  lately,  in  applying  the  water  system,  it  has 
been  considered  sufficient  to  interpose  what  is  called 
a  water  trap  —  usually  an  inverted  siphon,  iji  which 
water  is  supposed  to  be  always  standing  —  between 
the  house  and  the  waste  pipe  leading  to  the  sewer. 
These  traps,  as  commonly  constructed,  are  in  every 
way  defective  :  even  a  light  wind  blowing  into  the 
mouth  of  the  sewer  often  increases  the  pressure 
sufficiently  to  send  the  sewer  gas  bubbling  through 
them  into  the  house ;  a  great  rush  of  water  into 
the  sewer  during  heavy  rains,  oy  lessening  the  air- 
space and  compressing  the  contained  air,  often  aim- 


100      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND    TOWNS. 

ilarly  forces  the  traps.  The  same  effect  is  pro- 
duced in  a  marked  degree  by  the  rise  of  the  tides 
into  the  mouths  of  outlet  sewers  in  sea-side  towns, 
the  air  being  compressed  into  a  smaller  space  and 
forced  to  find  a  vent.  Even  did  these  difficulties 
not  exist,  the  fact  that  water  transmits  aeriform 
matter  would  always  remain  as  an  objection  ;  sewer 
gas  is  absorbed  by  the  water  of  the  end  of  the  trap 
which  is  toward  the  sewer,  and  is  given  off  to  con- 
taminate the  air  at  the  end  which  has  a  communi- 
cation with  the  interior  of  the  house. 

The  ordinary  soil  pipe  has  a  trap  at  its  lower  part, 
and,  if  un ventilated,  its  air  stagnates  often  for  hours 
together.  When  the  pipe  is  used,  every  gallon  of 
water  poured  down  causes  a  displacement  of  some 
of  the  contained  gas,  which  will  seek  its  easiest 
means  of  escape,  probably  into  the  house.  When  a 
current  is  set  up  in  a  siphon-shaped  trap  belowr  its 
contents  necessarily  vibrate  back  and  forth  for  a 
certain  time,  giving  an  impulsion  to  the  confined 
air  above  that  will  tend  to  force  it  through  fissures 
or  feeble  traps. 

All  soil  pipes  should  deliver  into  ventilated  traps 
outside  of  the  house  so  that  gases  forced  from  the 
sewer  need  not  even  depend  upon  the  cpeii  ven- 
tilator from  the  top  of  the  soil  pipe,  but  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  escape  into  the  house  at  all. 

Instances  of  fatal  disease  arising  from  imperfect 
plumbing  have  been  and  still  are  numberless,  many 
of  them  as  glaring  as  the  following,  described  by 
Hakerman,  who  says  that  in  the  prisons  at  Brest 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.         101 

the  apartments  which  were  supplied  with  water- 
closets  were  filled  with  sewer  gas  when  the  south- 
west wind  drove  the  air  through*  the  sewers  and 
forced  the  traps.  In  these  apartments  the  cholera 
raged  with  great  intensity,  while  those  parts  of  the 
prison  not  supplied  with  closets  remained  free  from  it. 

Dr.  Fergus  asserts  that  diarrhoea,  cholera,  diph- 
theria, and  dysentery  have  increased  fourfold  since 
the  introduction  of  the  water-closet  system  with  its 
numerous  inlets  for  sewer  gas  into  houses  and  water- 
supply  cisterns. 

In  1872,  the  Medical  Officer  for  Edinburgh  re- 
ported that  wherever  water-closets  were  introduced, 
"  in  the  course  of  one  year  there  were  double  the 
number  of  deaths  from  typhoid  and  scarlet  fever, 
and  any  epidemic  fever  occurring  in  these  houses 
assumed  a  character  of  malignant  mortality."  In 
our  own  cities  it  is  known  that  the  fatal  prevalence 
of  typhoid,  and  it  is  believed  that  frequent  epidem- 
ics of  diphtheria  and  cerebro-spinal  meningitis,  are 
due  to  faulty  drainage  alone. 

In  doing  away  with  cess-pools  and  substituting 
sewers,  unless  proper  precautions  are  taken,  we 
simply  make  an  elongated  cess-pool,  rarely  suffi- 
ciently cleansed,  and  often  grossly  foul,  and  com- 
municating with  the  interior  of  every  dwelling- 
house.  If  typhoid  excreta  are  thrown  into  a  sewer 
a  mile  away  from  us,  we  have  no  security  against 
»he  danger  that  its  poisonous  contagium  will  float 
.n  the  gas  of  the  sewer,  and  enter  our  own  living 
rooms.  Grave  as  this  difficulty  is,  it  may  V)e  almof 


102      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

entirely  removed  by  a  proper  arrangement  of  the 
drainage  works  of  the  house  itself. 

How  slight  a  change  in  temperature  in  a  sewer 
or  cess-pool  suffices  to  force  a  water  trap,  may  be 
seen  by  experimenting  with 
the   simple    apparatus   illus- 
trated herewith. 

The  bend  in  the  pipe  A, 
filled  with  water,  represents 
the  common  trap  of  house 
plumbing ;  the  flask  is  filled 
with  air.  If  the  hand  be 
simply  placed  upon  the  flask, 
the  bodily  heat  will  expand 
the  air  sufficiently  to  throw 
the  water  quite  out  of  the 
pipe,  although  its  upper  arm 
may  be  several  inches  long. 
In  like  manner,  on  opening 
the  cock  in  the  pipe  leading 
from  the  vessel  above,  con- 
taining water,  the  contents 
of  this  vessel  will  flow  into 
Figure  i.  the  jar  and  bring  to  bear 

upon  its  contained  air  such  a  pressure  as  will  force 
the  water  out  of  the  bent  tube.  This  represents 
precisely  the  condition  of  things  when  the  quan- 
tity of  water  in  the  sewer  is  materially  increased 
by  sudden  rains  or  by  the  rise  of  the  tide  into  the 
nutlet. 

Another  cause  of  changing  pressure  upon  the  ail 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES.         103 

of  the  sewer,  is  the  frequent  ebb  and  flow  of  the 
volume  of  sewage,  now  only  a  thread  of  water 
along  the  floor,  and  now  an  amount  sufficient  to  fill 
it  to  half  its  height. 

The  ventilation  of  soil  pipes  is  not  only  needful 
to  carry  away  sewer  gas,  which  would  otherwise  be 
forced  through  the  traps  or  transmitted  by  their 
water,  but  also  to  prevent  the  formation  of  a  vac- 
uum when  large  volumes  of  water  are  poured  down 
them.  The  vacuum  thus  formed  is  quite  sure  to 
suck  open  one  or  more  of  the  water-traps,  —  which, 
until  it  is  filled  at  its  next  use,  will  remain  free  for 
the  passage  of  the  gas  from  the  pipe  into  the 
house. 

A  soil  pipe  in  untrapped  communication  with  a 
sewer,  has  been  described  by  Dr.  Carpenter,  as  an 
elongated  bell-glass,  affording  a  certain  depot  for 
the  lighter  products  of  decomposition  and  putre- 
faction ;  if  the  soil  pipe  has  a  free  ventilation  by  a 
direct  channel  to  the  outer  air  above,  these  gases 
will  escape  harmlessly,  but  unless  such  outlet  is 
provided,  they  will  themselves  seek  out  (or  create) 
defective  spots  through  which  to  find  their  way  to 
the  interior  of  the  house. 

Unused  water-closets  are  especially  dangerous, 
as  the  water  in  the  trap,  which  was  their  only  fee- 
ble barrier  to  the  communication  between  the  in- 
side of  the  sewer  and  the  inside  of  the  house,  is 
soon  removed  by  evaporation  ;  and  as  ordinarily 
arranged,  the  overflow  pipes  of  little  used  bath-tubs 
ind  stationary  wash-basins,  have  their  traps  empty 
snd  open  during  a  large  part  of  the  time. 


104   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

Iii  the  very  complete  sewerage  work  of  Croydon, 
Dr.  Carpenter  early  insisted  upon  the  compulsory 
ventilation  of  soil  pipes,  but  his  opinion  and  advice 
had  to  be  reinforced  by  a  long  list  of  deaths  trace- 
able to  the  lack  of  ventilation,  before  the  authori- 
ties adopted  the  rule.  The  work  was  systematically 
carried  out  by  Mr.  Latham,  who  was  then  a  di- 
rector of  the  Croydon  board,  and  who  has  since 
become  a  leading  authority  in  matters  of  sanitary 
engineering.  Although  he  had  himself  given  full 
credence  to  Dr.  Carpenter's  belief,  he  was  aston- 
ished at  the  result.  "  Typhoid  was  sprinkled  here 
and  there  before  him ;  but  as  the  work  progressed  it 
entirely  disappeared  from  behind  him  and  has  not 
returned."  Since  this  statement  was  made,  typhoid 
has  occasionally  reappeared  in  Croydon,  —  owing  to 
the  fact  that  preventive  regulations  were  in  some 
cases  made  applicable  only  to  new  houses,  defective 
arrangements  already  existing  being  allowed  to  re- 
main. A  recent  severe  attack  has  led  to  more  com- 
plete reforms,  and  it  is  hoped  that  a  better  con- 
dition as  to  health  will  result. 

Popular  attention  is  now  being  resolutely  drawn 
to  these  important  sanitary  considerations,  and  we 
may  reasonably  hope  that  we  have  fairly  entered 
on  an  era,  in  which  the  improvement  of  sanitary 
Conditions  will  be  an  important  attendant  of  ad- 
vancing civilization. 

In  a  later  chapter  of  this  book,  more  explicit 
practical  directions  concerning  the  drainage  and 
?entilation  of  houses,  will  be  given. 


CHAPTER  m 

THE    DRAINAGE    OF    TOWNS. 

"All  filth  is  absolute  poison."  — BOWDITCH. 

IT  should  be  the  first  purpose  of  town  sewerage 
io  remove  the  unclean  refuse  of  life  rapidly  beyond 
the  limit  of  danger  ;  the  second,  to  prevent  it  from 
doing  harm  during  its  passage  ;  and  the  third,  to 
regulate  its  final  disposal. 

The  channel  through  which  the  removal  is  effected 
—  the  sewer  —  whether  large  or  small,  must  con- 
form to  certain  conditions,  or  it  had  better  never 
have  been  built :  — 

a.  It  must  be  perfectly  tight  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  so  that  all  matters  entering  it  shall  securely 
be  carried  to  its  outlet,  not  a  particle  of  impurity 
leaking  through  into  the  soil. 

b.  It  must  have  a  continuous  fall  from  the  head 
to  the  outlet,  in  order  that  its  contents  may  "  keep 
moving,"  there  being  no  halting  to  putrefy  by  the 
way,  and  no  depositing  of  silt  that  would  endanger 
the  channel. 

c.  It   must  be   perfectly  ventilated,  so  that  the 
injurious  gases  that  necessarily  arise  from  the  de- 
composition of  matters  carried  along  in  water,  or 
idhering  to  the  sides  of  the  conduit,  shall  be  diluted 


106   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

with  fresh  air,  and  shall  have  such  means  of  escape 
as  will  prevent  them  from  forcing  their  way  into 
houses  through  the  traps  of  house  drains. 

d.  It  must  be  provided  with  means  for  inspection 
and,  where  necessary,  for  flushing. 

e.  Its  size  and  form  must  be  so  adjusted  to  it* 
work,  or  to  its  flushing  appliances,  that  the  usual 
dry-weather  flow  may  be  made  to  keep  it  free  from 
gilt  and  organic  deposits. 

A  sewer  that  is  deficient  in  any  one  of  these  par- 
ticulars is  an  unsafe  neighbor  to  any  inhabited 
house,  and  a  fair  subject  for  indictment  as  a  dan- 
gerous nuisance.  Dr.  Simon  says :  "  I  accordingly 
think  it  an  essential  principle  that  the  evil  of  a 
stinking  sewer  should  always  be  dealt  with  at  its 
root.  Thus,  a  sewer  which  is  imperfectly  ventilated 
should  have  perfect  ventilation  provided  for  it ;  a 
sewer  which,  though  fairly  constructed,  is  from  poor- 
ness of  current  not  completely  self -scouring,  should 
at  due  intervals  ha.ve  extrinsic  flushing  ;  and  sewers 
which,  with  radical  ill-construction,  are  virtually  but 
cess-pools  under  the  street,  should,  without  delay,  be 
abolished." 

Frequently,  when  the  systematic  sewerage  of  a 
town  is  undertaken^  there  comes  up  the  question  of 
private  drains,  which  have  been  built  by  individual 
enterprise  and  are  really  the  property  of  private 
owners  ;  but  owing  to  this  complication,  and  to  the 
fact  that  they  are  thought  to  be  good  enough  for 
temporary  purposes,  they  are  often  left  to  the  last. 

This  is  entirely  wrong.     So  far  as  oircumstaneet 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF   TOWNS.  107 

will  permit,  the  first  action  of  the  authorities  should 
be  to  stop  all  connection  of  house  drains  with  these 
sewers.  The  next  should  be  to  stop  all  connection 
of  house  drains  with  private  cess-pools.  This  may 
seem,  to  those  who  have  not  considered  the  subject, 
like  an  extreme  statement ;  but  all  who  have  studied 
the  evidence  as  to  the  means  of  propagation  of  in- 
fectious diseases  will  recognize  its  justice.  The 
health  of  the  community  would  really  be  less  en- 
dangered if  the  offensive  matters  sought  to  be  got 
rid  of  were  allowed  to  flow,  in  the  full  light  of  day, 
and  with  free  exposure  to  the  diluting  air,  in  road- 
side gutters,  than  it  now  is  by  their  introduction 
into  the  soil  from  which  the  water  of  house  wells 
proceeds,  and  by  the  accumulation  of  putrefying 
masses  in  unventilated  and  leaky  caverns,  whence 
the  poisonous  gases  sure  to  be  produced  find  their 
way  through  the  drains  into  our  houses,  or  into  their 
immediate  vicinity.  In  the  open  air,  their  offensive- 
ness  would  make  us  avoid  them,  and  their  poisonous 
emanations  would  be  dissipated  in  the  atmosphere. 
In  the  cess-pool  and  in  a  leaky  sewer  (which  is  but 
an  elongated  cess-pool)  they  too  often  find  only  one 
means  of  escape  —  through  the  drains  into  houses. 

It  is  an  almost  invariable  rule,  in  this  country,  to 
hold  the  question  of  sewerage  in  abeyance  until 
lome  time  after  a  public  water  supply  has  been  pro- 
vided. This  is  in  every  way  unwise.  It  is  a  more 
than  sufficient  tax  upon  the  soil  of  any  ordinary  vil- 
lage to  receive  its  household  wastes  and  subject 
them  to  a  slow  process  of  oxidation,  so  as  to  keep 


108      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

them,  even  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
from  doing  great  harm ;  but  when  the  volume  of 
these  wastes  is  enormously  increased  by  the  liberal 
ose  of  water  from  public  works  running  free  in 
every  house,  the  case  becomes  at  once  serious.  The 
soil  is  oversaturated,  not  only  with  water,  but  with 
water  containing  the  most  threatening  elements  of 
danger. 

On  the  other  hand,  no  system  of  sewerage  ar- 
ranged to  accommodate  an  abundant  water  supply 
should  be  introduced  until  enough  water  is  provided 
to  secure  the  thorough  cleansing  of  the  drains. 

Both  branches  of  the  work  should  be  carried  out 
at  once,  so  that  the  oversaturation  of  the  ground 
and  the  danger  of  sedimentary  deposits  in  the  sewer 
may  alike  be  avoided.  Even  where  the  introduction 
of  water  is  not  contemplated,  the  local  authorities  of 
towns  and  villages  should  regard  it  as  their  most 
important  duty  to  provide  and  maintain  sufficient 
and  absolutely  impervious  sewers  wherever  these 
are  needed. 

Nor  is  the  simple  foul-water  drainage  enough, 
save  where  the  soil  is  so  dry  as  to  be  free  from  such 
sources  of  malaria  as  do  not  depend  on  the  wastes 
of  human  life.  Malaria  is  a  poison  in  the  atmos- 
phere which  is  recognized  only  by  its  effects  on 
health.  It  often  accompanies  foul-smelling  gases, 
but  it  is  not  necessarily  heralded  by  any  form  of 
appeal  to  the  senses,  unless  it  be  in  the  way  of 
icrvous  headaches  and  a  general  feeling  of  debility 

Its  presence  is  often  marked  by  a  disturbance  of 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF   TOWNS.  109 

Bleep,  uneasiness,  lassitude,  and  digestive  irregu- 
larity.  Sir  Thomas  Watson,  who  has  made  one  of 
the  best  statements  of  the  case,  says  :  "  For  produc- 
ing malaria  it  appears  to  be  requisite  that  there 
should  be  a  surface  capable  of  absorbing  moisture, 
and  that  this  surface  should  be  flooded  or  soaked 
with  water  and  then  dried  ;  the  higher  the  temper- 
ature and  the  quicker  the  drying  process,  the  mor* 
plentiful  and  the  more  virulent  the  poison  that  it 
evolved." 

If  malaria  come  from  cryptogams,  then  drainage 
may  prevent  the  germination  of  these,  just  as  it 
prevents  the  germination  of  the  seeds  of  the  cat-tail 
flag. 

The  districts  soaked  by  hill-waters  about  Rome 
were  malarious  for  many  centuries.  Tarquin,  by  a 
system  of  deep  subterranean  drainage,  collected 
this  stagnant  water  and  turned  it  into  the  Tiber. 
The  lands  became  at  once  healthy,  and  were  oc- 
cupied by  a  large  population.  After  the  Gothic 
invasion  the  drains  were  neglected,  and  became 
obstructed,  and  so  they  still  continue ;  and  for 
hundreds  of  years  these  once  fertile  and  populous 
districts  have  remained  almost  uninhabitable. 

In  addition  to  the  frequent  examples  of  sanitary 
drainage  in  Europe,  and  conspicuously  in  England, 
there  are  some  instances  in  our  own  country  which 
are  sufficiently  striking. 

The  town  of  Batavia,  in  New  York,  became  at 
3ne  time  so  malarious  that  it  was  almost  threat- 
ened with  destruction.  It  was  decided  to  drain 


110      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND    TOWNS. 

some  saturated  lands  near  the  town.  The  first 
work  was  carried  on  by  subscription,  but  the  agri- 
cultural profit  demonstrated  was  enough  to  induce 
land-owners  to  continue  it  at  their  own  expense. 
The  malaria  was  immediately  mitigated,  and  for 
the  past  twenty  years  the  town  has  been  practically 
free  from  it. 

Shawneetown,  in  Illinois,  was  formerly  exceed- 
ingly unhealthy.  One  seventh  of  the  men  engaged 
in  building  the  railroad  there  died  of  malarious  dis- 
ease. The  draining  of  the  surface  water  by  a  ditch 
(which  at  one  point  had  to  be  cut  to  a  depth  of 
forty  feet)  removed  the  cause  of  the  difficulty,  and 
the  town  has  remained  healthy  ever  since. 

Embryo  towns  and  paper  cities  —  their  surface 
being  obstructed  by  partly  finished  roads,  and  the 
land  being  withdrawn  from  cultivation  and  left  to 
the  care  of  no  one  in  particular  —  are  often  much 
more  unhealthy  than  their  sites  would  have  been 
had  the  same  population  planted  itself  in  the  open 
fields. 

Stagnant  pools  on  which  cryptogams  grow  are 
frequent  sources  of  disease.  Most  surface  ponds 
have  their  areas  contracted  in  summer  by  evapora- 
tion, and  their  newly-exposed,  foul  margins  are 
quite  sure  to  poison  the  atmosphere. 

The  increase  of  population  in  malarious  districts 
always  exerts  an  especially  bad  influence,  because 
the  organic  wastes  of  human  life  accumulate  in  the 
toil  and  aggravate  its  insalubrity. 

Closely  allied  to  the  malarious  influences  of  satu 


THE   DRAINAGE   OF   TOWNS.  Ill 

rated  soils  (especially  in  densely  built  districts)  are 
those  which  attend  the  escape  of  sewer  gas.  The 
pernicious  action  of  this  gas  is  especially  felt  in  the 
higher  districts  of  sewered  towns.  As  a  rule,  sewer 
air  finds  its  escape  in  the  higher-lying  districts,  and 
often  conveys  the  germs  of  diseases  originating  in 
the  lower  and  poorer  parts  of  the  town. 

The  medical  officer  of  Glasgow  says :  "It  ha? 
been  conclusively  shown  that  houses  presumed  to 
be  beyond  suspicion  of  any  possible  danger  from 
this  cause  —  houses  in  which  the  most  skillful  en- 
gineers and  architects  have,  as  they  believed,  ex- 
hausted the  resources  of  modern  science  —  have 
been  exposed  in  a  high  degree  to  the  diseases  aris- 
ing from  air  in  contact  with  the  products  of  decom- 
position in  the  sewers.  And  this  for  a  very  obvious 
reason.  Such  houses  are  usually  built  on  high 
levels,  where  the  drains  have  a  very  rapid  fall." 

Thon  says  that  in  Cassel,  in  the  higher  part  of 
the  town,  which  one  would  suppose  the  healthiest, 
typhoid  fever  was  brought  into  houses  by  sewer 
gas  which  rose  to  them  by  reason  of  its  lightness. 
In  Oxford,  in  1850,  cholera,  by  the  same  action, 
appeared  in  several  houses  in  the  higher  and 
healthier  parts  of  the  town. 

In  Berlin,  in  1866,  in  those  parts  of  the  city 
where  there  were  no  sewers  or  water-closets,  the 
deaths  amounted  to  0.37  per  cent,  of  the  popula- 
tion, while  in  the  Louisenstadt,  where  sewers  and 
water-closets  were  in  general  use,  the  deaths 
reached  4.85  per  cent.  Owing  to  errors  in  the  con- 


112      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

struction  of  the  sewers  of  Croydon  (England), 
their  early  use  was  followed  by  a  violent  outbreak 
of  typhoid  fever,  which  attacked  no  less  than 
eleven  per  cent,  of  the  population. 

All  experience  and  all  scientific  demonstrations 
go  to  show  that  the  only  safety  in  the  water  car- 
riage system  of  sewering  lies  in  the  freest  possible 
ventilation  of  the  sewer  and  all  its  branches. 

The  evidence  is  almost  universal,  that  wherever 
sewerage  works  are  badly  executed,  and  where 
proper  precautions  against  the  invasion  of  houses 
by  sewer  gas  are  not  taken,  typhoid  fever  and  other 
diseases  of  the  bowels  are  quite  sure  to  be  increased 
in  intensity,  and  to  appear  in  parts  of  the  town 
which,  before  sewerage  was  undertaken,  were  com- 
paratively healthy. 

In  1856  there  was  an  epidemic  of  typhoid  fever 
in  Windsor,  England.  Four  hundred  and  forty 
persons,  or  five  per  cent,  of  the  whole  population, 
were  attacked,  and  thirty-nine  died.  The  disease 
affected  the  rich  quite  as  much  as  the  poor,  but  it 
confined  itself  entirely  to  houses  that  were  in  com- 
munication with  a  certain  defective  town  drain. 
Windsor  Castle  had  its  own  drain,  and  its  inmates 
were  entirely  untouched ;  in  the  town,  places  only 
a  block  apart  suffered  severely  or  escaped  entirely 
according  as  they  were  in  communication  with  the 
town  drain  or  with  the  castle  drain. 

It  should  be  understood  that  sewage  matters, 
though  offensive,  are  not  dangerous  until  two  or 
three  days  after  their  production.  The  great  poinl 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  TCWNS.         113 

sought  to  be  gained  in  the  water  system  of  sewer- 
age, and  that  which  constitutes  its  chief  claim  tc 
confidence,  is  the  instant  removal  of  all  organic  re- 
fuse, everything  being  carried  entirely  away  from 
the  vicinity  of  the  town  before  decomposition  can 
have  begun.  Any  plan  not  effecting  this  is  en- 
tirely inadequate,  and,  on  sanitary  grounds,  objec- 
tionable. 

In  many  towns  where  there  is  no  water  supply, 
a  rude  system  of  sewerage  is  adopted,  with  the 
precaution  of  prohibiting  water-closet  connections. 
This  is  really  hardly  a  precaution  at  all.  Investiga- 
tions made  in  towns  where  the  earth  and  ash 
systems  prevail,  as  in  many  of  the  large  manufact- 
uring towns  of  the  north  of  England,  show  that 
the  ordinary  contents  of  the  public  sewers  are  in 
all  respects  not  less  foul  and  offensive,  and  probably 
little  less  dangerous,  than  are  the  contents  of  those 
which  receive  all  of  the  ordure  of  the  town  with  a 
copious  flow  of  water.  That  is  to  say,  the  kitchen 
wastes  and  house  slops  when  mixed  with  the  wash 
of  the  streets  constitute  so  prolific  a  source  of  offen- 
sive sewer  gases  that  the  night-soil  is  not  especially 
marked,  save  as  a  specific  vehicle  for  the  spreading 
of  such  epidemics  as  are  communicated  by  ireans 
of  bowel-discharges. 

On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Voelcker,  who  is  excellent 
authority,  does  not  accept  the  theory  that  sewage  is 
as  foul  where  house  drainage  is  excluded  from  the 
sewers  as  where  it  is  admitted.  He  says,  "  I  do  not 
think  the  Thames  Conservators  would  h?vp  my  oh- 

8 


114   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

joction  to  the  surface  water  passing  into  the  Thames 
through  a  separate  sewer  from  the  sewage.  The 
statement  that  the  proportion  of  the  pollution  of 
surface  water  to  sewage  is  as  ten  to  twelve  must  be 
founded  on  some  mistake.  I  do  not  believe  that 
water  passing  down  the  streets  and  running  from 
the  roofs  of  houses  would  naturally  contaminate  the 


It  is  not  the  least  benefit  of  the  water  supply  in 
towns  and  villages  that  it  sooner  or  later  compels 
proper  attention  to  the  sewerage  question  ;  for  a 
liberal  supply  of  water,  running  free  of  cost  in  every 
house,  soon  leads  to  a  great  increase  in  the  amount 
of  water  used  and  allowed  to  run  to  waste,  and  the 
result  is  that  the  people  are  awakened  to  the  only 
argument  by  which  average  communities  are  at  all 
affected,  —  the  argument  of  life  and  death,  —  and 
are  compelled,  often  in  spite  of  themselves,  to  adopt 
more  complete  sewerage.  It  would  show  a  wiser 
forethought,  and  lead  to  ultimate  economy,  if  our 
towns  would  at  once,  on  agitating  the  question  of 
the  introduction  of  water,  couple  with  the  scheme 
a  plan  of  complete  sewerage.  It  is  a  very  ostrich- 
like  blindness  which  hopes  to  escape  the  sure  con- 
sequence of  the  beginning  of  the  work.  If  it  is 
undertaken  at  all,  the  double  expense  is  inevitable, 
and  it  had  better  be  honestly  acknowledged  and 
Bufficiently  provided  for  at  the  outset,  especially  as 
it  is  in  every  way  better  that  the  two  operations 
should  proceed  simultaneously. 


THE  DRAINAGE  OF  TOWNS.         115 

The  question  of  cost  should  be  taken  into  very 
early  consideration,  and  it  will  not  be  slight ;  but 
paripassu  there  should  be  a  due  estimate  of  the 
benefits  to  accrue.  These  are  not  of  such  a  char- 
acter that  they  can  be  very  readily  calculated  in 
dollars  and  cents,  but  there  few  cases,  in  towns  of 
five  thousand  inhabitants  and  over,  where  their  im- 
portance will  not  be  very  fully  appreciated. 

The  construction  of  a  proper  system  of  sewerage 
is  at  best  expensive,  but  it  may  be  much  more 
cheaply  done  if  taken  in  hand  at  once  and  carried 
on  systematically  until  the  whole  is  complete,  than 
if  done  piecemeal,  here  and  there,  as  property- 
holders  may  elect,  which  is  the  general  custom  in 
America.  I  do  not  know  that  the  English  method 
of  paying  for  the  cost  by  distributing  principal  and 
interest  over  a  period  of  years  has  been  adopted 
with  us,  but  it  seems  the  most  just  and  the  least 
oppressive.  It  is  more  fair  to  posterity,  without 
bearing  heavily  on  the  present  generation,  than  pay- 
ment by  interest-bearing  bonds  to  be  redeemed 
twenty  or  thirty  years  hence. 

Latham,  in  his  inaugural  address  as  President  of 
the  Society  of  Engineers,  made  a  calculation  of  the 
cost  and  value  of  the  water-works  and  sewerage  of 
the  town  of  Croydon,  as  follows  :  — 

Cost :  purchase  of  land  (for  sewage  utilization), 
£50,000  ;  water- works,  £70,000  ;  sewers,  irriga- 
tion works,  baths,  abattoirs,  and  general  improve- 
ments, £  75,000.  Total,  £195,000.  The  money 
savings  during  thirteen  years  since  the  completion 


116   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

of  the  work,  he  estimates  to  have  been :  2,439  funer- 
als, which  would  have  cost  £12,195 ;  60,975  cases 
of  sickness  prevented,  £60,975  ;  value  of  the  labor 
for  six  and  one  half  years  of  1,317  adult  persons 
whose  lives  were  extended,  £166,930.  Total, 
£240,100.  He  says,  "Although  it  has  been  at- 
tempted to  put  a  money  value  on  human  life,  we 
individually  feel  that  life  is  priceless,  and  we  may 
look  to  the  2,439  persons  saved  from  the  jaws  of 
death  in  this  single  town  as  the  living  testimony  of 
the  great  value  of  sanitary  works." 

It  is  well  known  to  physicians  that  their  chances 
of  success  in  the  treatment  of  disease  are  very  much 
reduced  with  persons  living  in  unhealthy  places. 

The  cost  of  sewerage  works  is  often  made  un- 
necessarily great  with  the  idea  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  public  to  furnish  on  outlet  for  factories, 
slaughter-houses,  and  all  manner  of  establishments 
which  are  carried  on  for  individual  profit,  and  in 
which  the  cost  of  removing  the  resultant  refuse  is 
fairly  chargeable  on  the  business  rather  than  on  the 
public  purse. 

So  far  as  the  community  is  concerned,  it  should 
be  compelled  to  construct  sewers  only  for  the  re- 
moval of  such  waste  matters  as  are  incident  to  the 
daily  life  of  all  classes  of  the  population.  If  brew- 
eries, chemical  works,  and  other  manufactories  pro- 
ducing a  large  amount  of  liquid  waste,  are  to  be 
provided  with  a  means  of  outlet,  this  should  be 
done  entirely  at  their  own  charge  ;  their  profit  and 
convenience  should  not  be  advanced  at  the  cost 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF  TOWNS.  117 

of  every  member  of  the  community.  And  more 
than  this,  the  wastes  of  factories  being  often  per- 
nicious, not  only  on  reaching  the  outlet  of  the 
Bewer,  but  by  the  generation  of  gases  within  them 
which  may  pervade  all  their  ramifications,  it  is  a 
Berious  question  whether  such  establishments  should 
not  be  compelled  to  secure  independent  outlets  at 
their  own  expense,  or  at  least  to  render  their  wastes 
innoxious  before  discharging  them  into  the  public 
drain  ;  paying  even  then  an  extra  sewer-rate,  pro- 
portionate to  the  extra  service  they  require. 

The  sanitary  authority  of  every  town  should  have 
entire  control  over  the  sewers,  with  power  to  decide 
what  shall  be  admitted  to  them,  and  what  excluded, 
and  to  levy  an  additional  tax  in  all  cases  where  an 
undue  use  is  made  of  the  public  convenience. 

The  economical  use  of  the  organic  wastes  of  the 
house  or  town,  demands  most  careful  consideration. 
The  utilitarian  question,  important  though  it  is,  is 
only  secondary,  but  as  an  accessory,  the  matter  of 
economy  is  very  important,  and  in  every  perfect 
system  of  sanitary  improvement  the  arrangements 
must  be  such  that  there  shall  be  a  complete  utiliza- 
tion of  all  the  valuable  constituents  of  the  wastes 
»f  domestic  life ;  and  practically  our  arrangements 
ehould  be  so  nearly  perfect,  that  nothing  shall  be 
lost  that  can  be  economically  saved. 

The  more  important  considerations  affecting  the 
of    town  sewerage,   were    stated  in   the 


118   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

?< general  conclusions"  of  the  English  Board  of 
Health,  after  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  whole 
subject  of  sewerage,  as  follows :  — 

1.  That  no  population  living  amidst  aerial  im- 
purities arising  from  putrid  emanations  from  cess- 
pools, drains,  or  sewers  of  deposit,  can  be  healthy 
or  free  from  attacks  of  devastating  epidemics. 

2.  That  as  a  primary  condition  to  salubrity,  no 
ordure  or  refuse  can  be  permitted  to  remain  be- 
neath or  near  habitations,  and  by  no  other  means 
can  remedial  operations   be   so   conveniently,  eco- 
nomically, inoffensively,  and  quickly  effected,  as  by 
the  removal  of   all  such   refuse   dissolved   or   sus- 
pended in  water. 

3.  That  the  general  use  of  large  brick   sewers 
has  resulted  from  ignorance  or  neglect ;  such  sewers 
being    wasteful    in   construction   and    repair,   and 
costly  through  inefficient  efforts  to  keep  them  free 
from  deposits. 

4.  That  brick  and  stone  house  drains  are  "false 
in   principle,    and  wasteful  in   the  cleansing,  con- 
struction,   and   repair That   house   drains 

h.nd  sewers,  properly  constructed  of  vitrified  pipe, 
detain  and  accumulate  no  deposit,  emit  no  offensive 
smells,  and  require  no  additional  supplies  of  water 
to  keep  them  clear." 

5.  That  an   artificial  fall   may  be   cheaply  and 
economically  obtained  by  steam  pumping,  and  that 
the  cost  of  the  whole  system  to  each  house  is  much 
less  than  the  cost  to  that  house  of  removing  ita 
refuse  by  hand. 


THE  DRAINAGE   OF   TOWNS.  119 

6.  All  offensive  smells  proceeding  from  any  works 
intended  for  house  or  town  drainage,  indicate  the 
fact  of  the  detention  and  decomposition  of  ordure, 
and  afford  decisive  evidence  of  malconstruction,  or 
of  ignorant  or  defective  arrangement. 


PRACTICAL  DIRECTIONS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ABBANGING  PLANS  FOB  TOWN  SEWERAGE. 

WHETHEB  it  is  contemplated  to  execute  the 
whole  work  of  sewering  of  towns  immediately  or 
not,  the  first  step  in  every  case,  should  be  to  pre- 
pare a  complete  plan  of  the  whole  work,  so  that 
when  it  shall  finally  be  finished  it  will  be  harmo- 
nious, —  each  part  being  adapted  to  the  work  that 
it  will  have  to  perform,  when  all  the  lines  are  in 
operation.  In  arranging  this  plan,  the  engineer 
will  consider,  not  only  what  are  to  be  the  demands 
of  the  town  as  it  now  exists,  but  in  what  way  the 
sewage  of  parts  to  be  built  in  the  future  will  be 
likely  to  affect  the  demand  upon  its  main  lines.  Of 
course  it  will  be  impossible  to  foresee  with  precision 
the  extent  and  direction  of  the  future  growth  of 
any  town,  and  this  element  of  uncertainty  must  al- 
ways remain.  Still,  so  far  as  the  probabilities  of 
the  case  are  concerned,  much  economy  can  be  se- 
cured by  a  careful  consideration  of  the  prospect, — 
providing  for  rather  more  than  less  of  what  will 
probably  be  necessary,  but  arranging  so  far  as  may 
be  that  these  parts  to  be  added  shall  not  all  de- 
mand an  outlet  through  the  same  main  line.  In  thia 
way  we  may  avoid  the  necessity  for  making  any 
lewer  very  much  larger  than  present  needs  require, 


124   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

while  by  increasing  the  size  of  several  mains  we 
may  provide  all  of  the  adjacent  area  when  the  occa- 
sion shall  arise.  So  far  as  future  extensions  of  the 
present  town  are  concerned,  all  that  need  be  done  ia 
to  provide  main  outlets,  of  a  size  adapted  to  their 
area. 

OUTLETS.  —  INTERCEPTING   SEWERS. 

The  first  question  to  be  considered  in  arranging 
the  plan  for  the  sewerage  of  a  town  or  village  is 
that  of  an  outlet,  at  which  the  foul  sewage  of  the 
streets  and  houses  may  be  delivered  without  danger 
of  polluting  water-courses  or  destroying  their  fish, 
or  of  silting  up  harbors  or  navigable  streams ;  and 
without  forming  within  dangerous  proximity  to  the 
town  a  deposit  of  offensive  sewage  matters  which 
might  constitute  a  source  of  annoyance  or  of  insalu- 
brity. 

In  all  cases  where  this  part  of  the  problem  pre- 
sents difficulties,  it  should  be  considered  whether  a 
separate  direction  or  a  shorter  outfall  may  not  be 
given  to  the  storm-water  drainage,  allowing  the 
sewers  to  deliver  at  their  main  outlet  only  the  ordi- 
nary drainage  of  houses  and  the  street- wash  of  very 
slight  rains.  The  cases  are  frequent  where  the  re- 
moval of  the  sewage  proper  from  low  lying  parts 
of  a  town  may  be  best  and  most  economically  se- 
cured by  artificial  pumping ;  though,  in  the  major- 
ity of  instances,  it  will  be  practicable,  by  the  use  of 
intercepting  sewers,  to  deliver  by  natural  outfall  the 
drainage  of  all  except  the  very  lowest  portions  of 


ARRANGING  PLANS   FOR   TOWN  SEWERAGE.       125 

the  town.  It  is  in  the  adjustment  of  this  part  of 
the  work  that  the  experience  and  judgment  of  the 
engineer  in  charge  will  be  the  most  severely  tested ; 
in  all  matters  of  construction,  ventilation,  house 
connections,  etc.,  certain  rules  and  explicit  directions 
can  be  applied,  but  the  arrangement  of  the  outlet 
varies  with  nearly  every  new  undertaking,  and  with 
reference  to  this  branch  of  the  subject  it  is  possible 
here  to  give  only  general  indications. 

It  would  often  be  practicable  to  take  the  small 
ordinary  flow  of  public  sewage  to  a  remote  point, 
by  the  use  of  an  intercepting  sewer,  even  when  the 
cost  of  providing  such  an  outlet  for  storm  water 
would  be  so  great  as  to  make  it  impracticable.  In 
such  cases  there  may  be  carried  from  the  point  of 
outlet  to  the  distant  point  of  discharge  the  smallest 
pipe  that  will  accommodate  the  usual  flow,  so  ar- 
ranged that  whenever,  as  during  storms,  the  volume 
is  increased  beyond  the  capacity  of  this  pipe,  it  shall 
overflow  and  be  carried  directly  into  the  stream  or 
harbor  at  hand.  At  such  times  the  amount  of  water 
in  the  sewage  will  so  dilute  it  that  no  bad  effect 
need  be  apprehended. 

The  great  danger  in  nearly  all  the  towns  of  oui 
Atlantic  seaboard  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  dis- 
charge some  of  their  most  important  sewers  below 
high-water  mark,  so  that  at  each  rise  of  tide  not 
only  is  the  flow  at  these  points  checked,  and  foul 
silt  allowed  to  collect  in  the  stilled  water,  but  the 
dosing  of  the  vent  at  this  end  of  the  sewer  and  the 
rise  of  water  within  it,  whether  by  the  action  of 


126       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

the  tide  or  through  the  accumulation  of  the  flo\v 
from  above,  brings  a  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  con- 
tained air  and  forces  it  to  escape  at  the  higher 
points ;  the  state  of  the  tide  is  in  this  way  often 
made  perceptible  by  the  forcing  of  water  traps  a 
mile  or  more  distant  from  the  outlet. 

Outlets,  especially  of  large  sewers,  exposed  to 
strong  winds,  are  likewise  very  objectionable,  the 
pressure  of  the  wind  forcing  the  tainted  air  to  find 
vent  too  often  through  badly  trapped  drains  leading 
into  occupied  houses. 

Where  necessary  to  secure  a  constant  flow  of 
sewage,  pumping  should  always  be  resorted  to,  to 
avoid  the  expedient,  now  often  adopted,  of  using 
some  part  of  the  system  for  the  temporary  storage 
of  sewage  during  high  tides.  With  coal  at  nine 
dollars  per  ton,  the  cost  of  lifting  thirty  thousand 
gallons  ten  feet  high  with  a  twenty-five  horse-power 
engine  would  not  exceed  seventy-five  cents,  while 
with  a  larger  engine  and  a  larger  flow  the  relative 
cost  would  be  much  less.  It  was  estimated  that 
to  lift  the  whole  sewage  and  rain-fall  from  a  low- 
lying  district  in  London,  occupying  four  thousand 
acres,  to  a  height  of  thirty-one  feet  would  cost 
about  five  cents  per  annum  per  head  of  popula- 
tion. Whatever  the  cost  of  pumping,  it  may  be 
made  in  level  districts  to  do  away  with  any  out- 
lay for  cleansing  or  flushing  sewers,  which  without 
pumping  must  have  been  laid  nearly  level. 

There  are  as  yet  few  cases  in  this  country  wher« 
\t  is  necessary  to  discharge  the  sewage  of  a  town 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      127 

Into  a  stream  from  which  other  towns  receive  their 
water  supply,  though  the  towns  along  the  Schuyl- 
kill  River  still  stand  in  this  relation  to  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  The  time  is  probably  not  very  dis- 
tant when  this  question  will  become  here,  as  it  now 
is  in  England,  a  very  serious  one. 

Tidal  estuaries  and  bays  receiving  the  drainage 
of  a  town  are  sure  to  have  those  parts  of  their  bot- 
toms and  sides  which  are  alternately  covered  and 
exposed  by  the  changing  tides  fouled  with  organic 
matter,  and  co  become  thereby  seriously  offensive 
and  dangerous. 

Recent  sewage  floats  in  water.  After  maceration 
it  sinks  in  still  water  and  in  currents  having  a  less 
velocity  than  one  hundred  and  seventy  feet  per 
minute.  Its  specific  gravity  is  about  1.325. 

The  condition  of  Newtown  Creek,  Wallabout 
Bay,  and  the  Gowanus  Canal  and  Bay,  near  Brook- 
lyn, are  examples  of  the  subsidence  of  sewage  in 
eddies  and  slack  water. 

Tides  may  be  made  extremely  useful  in  the  flush- 
ing of  sewers  in  level  lowlands,  but  care  should  be 
taken  to  carry  the  outlet  to  a  point  where  the  in- 
convenience from  subsidence  will  be  reduced  to  the 
minimum. 

SIZES   OF   SEWERS. 

Nearly  the  most  important  item  in  connection 
with  the  arrangement  of  a  plan  for  sewerage,  and 
one  in  which  professional  experience  is  especially 
mportant,  is  the  regulation  of  the  sizes  of  the  dif 


128      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

ferent  main  drains  and  laterals.  This  involves  a 
consideration  of  the  amount  of  sewage  proper ;  the 
customary  rain-fall  of  the  district ;  the  grade  or  in- 
clination of  the  surface,  as  indicating  the  rapidity 
with  which  storm  waters  will  find  their  way  to  the 
entrances  of  the  sewers ;  and  the  extent  to  which, 
i'i  order  to  avoid  the  flooding  of  cellars  and  other 
injury  during  copious  rains,  it  is  advisable  to  in- 
crease the  sizes  of  the  conduits  beyond  what  is 
needed  for  ordinary  use. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  even  large  cities  can  really 
afford,  in  arranging  their  sewerage,  to  provide  for 
the  underground  removal  of  the  water  of  heavy 
rains,  and  certainly  in  smaller  towns  and  villages  it 
would  be  far  cheaper  to  pay  for  repairing  whatever 
damage  might  be  caused  by  occasional  heavy  floods 
in  the  streets,  or  to  provide  for  the  removal  of  the 
water  of  these  storms  by  surface  gutters,  than  to 
make  the  size  of  the  whole  system  of  sewerage  ade- 
quate for  such  work.  Not  only  this,  but  sewers 
large  enough  to  accommodate  the  water  of  very 
heavy  storms  would  usually  be  too  large  for  perfect 
cleansing  with  their  daily  flow,  and  would  require 
expensive  flushing  appliances,  which  with  smaller 
pipes  would  not  be  needed.  In  country  towns  it 
would  not  generally  be  wise  to  provide  for  remov- 
ing through  the  pipes  the  flow  of  a  heavier  storm 
than  one  quarter  inch  per  hour.  Gutters  are  much 
cheaper  than  sewers,  and  there  is  usually  no  objec- 
tion to  their  being  relied  on  to  remove  the  surplui 
water  of  sudden  showers. 


ARRANGING  PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      129 

It  is  not  unusual  to  provide  in  cities  for  a  rain- 
fall of  one  inch  per  hour,  and  to  assume  that  one 
half  of  this  will  reach  the  sewer  within  the  hour. 
Even  this  is  far  more  than  is  necessary,  if  any 
other  provision  can  be  made  for  exceptional  storms. 
For  example:  In  Providence,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  storms  were  recorded  in  twenty-six 
years.  Of  these  only  twenty-seven  were  of  more 
than  one  half  inch,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-one 
of  them  were  of  one  fourth  inch  or  less.  One  half 
inch  per  hour  equals  thirty  and  one  fourth  cubic 
feet  per  minute  per  acre. 

If  the  supply  of  water  in  a  town  is  ten  gallons 
per  head  per  day,  for  the  whole  population,  the 
quantity  of  sewage  to  be  removed  will  be  about  one 
hundred  pounds  daily  for  each  person.  Of  this  the 
closet  flow  will  constitute  about  one  third.  This  as- 
sumes that  the  use  of  the  water-closet  is  universal, 
that  vaults  are  entirely  done  away  with,  and  that  the 
water  is  employed  for  all  domestic  requirements. 

In  Brooklyn,  it  is  estimated  that,  aside  from  rain 
the  sewage  equals  one  and  one  fourth  times  the 
water  supply,  or  fifty  million  gallons  per  day,  the 
half  of  which  running  off  between  nine  A.  M.  and 
five  P.  M.  gives  3,125,000  gallons  per  hour,  escaping 
during  eight  hours.  This,  from  twelve  hundred 
acres,  gives  two  hundred  and  sixty  gallons  or  thirty- 
three  cubic  feet  per  acre  per  hour,  being  less  than 
one  hundredth  of  an  inch  in  depth  over  the  whole 
area. 

Mr    Shedd,  engineer  to  the  city  of  Providence, 

9 


130   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

says  on  the  subject  of  the  size  to  be  given  to  a 
sewer:  "  The  capacity  of  sewers  to  carry  water  de- 
pends mainly  on  their  sectional  area  —  if  of  proper 
form  —  and  the  rate  of  fall.  In  order  to  render 
sewers  as  nearly  self-cleansing  as  possible,  they 
must,  as  before  stated,  be  adapted,  in  size  and  in- 
clination, to  the  ordinary  flow  of  sewage,  so  far  as 
to  keep  up  a  velocity  sufficient  to  carry  on  all  light 
matters,  and  to  leave  only  so  much  heavy  matter  as 
will  be  finally  carried  along  by  the  scouring  effect 
of  the  storm  waters 

"  There  is  room  for  question  as  to  how  far  the 
sewer  should  be  made  capable  of  carrying  extraor- 
dinary storms.  The  original  cost  of  large  sewers, 
as  well  as  the  cost  of  maintenance,  is  so  much  greater, 
that  a  city  can  afford  to  pay  for  damages  done  by 
storms  of  unfrequent  occurrence,  rather  than  to  con- 
struct them.  Just  where  to  stop  in  providing  for 
such  storms  is  a  matter  of  doubt :  and  what  would 
secure  true  economy  in  one  place  would  not  neces- 
sarily do  so  in  another.  The  frequency  of  the 
heavy  storms,  the  amount  of  rainfall,  and  the  dam- 
age likely  to  be  done,  depend  upon  the  location  and 
the  circumstances  of  each  place." 

Very  careful  records  of  rainfalls  were  kept  for  a 
long  time  by  President  Caswell  of  Providence,  show- 
ing the  following  tabulated  result  which  gives  in  an 
interesting  form  the  data  that  are  of  value  in  sew- 
erage work. 

"  In  twenty-six  years  previous  to  1860,  the  time 
of  rainfall  is  recorded  in  185  storms  :  — 


ARRANGING   PLANS    FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      131 

In  131  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0  25  inch  per  hour,  01  less. 

In  18  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.33  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  9  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.40  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  7  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.50  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  8  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.62  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  3  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.67  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  3  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.75  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  4  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.87  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,   rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.00  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.75  inch  per  hour,  about. 

185 

"  The  two  storms  giving  1  inch  and  If  inch  per 
hour  fell  on  the  5th  and  on  the  14th  of  July,  1841. 

"  In  one  case,  where  the  time  of  rain-fall  was  less 
than  an  hour,  the  rate  is  made  as  though  the  rain 
was  an  hour  in  falling. 

"  In  fourteen  years,  to  the  1st  of  January,  1874, 
the  tim«  of  rain-fall  is  recorded  in  139  storms  :  — 

In  98  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.25  inch  per  hour,  or  less. 

In  9  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.33  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  2  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.40  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  10  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.50  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  5  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.60  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  3  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.70  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  2  storms,  rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.80  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  0.90  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.00  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.12  inch  per  hour,  about 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.20  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.40  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.52  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  1.83  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  2.00  fhch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,   rain  fell  at  the  rate  of  2.32  inch  per  hour,  about. 

In  1  storm,    rain  fel.  at  the  rate  of  3.15  inch  per  hour,  about. 


**  Of  those  storms  giving  an  inch  or  more  per 
hour, — 


132      SANITARY    DRAINAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

One  fell  in  1862.  Three  fell  in  1870. 

One  fell  in  1863.  One  fell  in  187J. 

One  fell  in  1868.  One  fell  in  1873. 
One  fell  in  1869. 

Making  nine  such  storms  in  fourteen  years,  agunst 
two  in  the  previous  period  of  twenty-six  years, 
Seven  of  these  storms  occurred  in  the  last  six  years. 

"  Where  the  time  of  rain-fall  was  less  than  an  hour, 
it  is  reckoned  as  having  been  an  Lour  in  falling." 

During  my  direction  of  the  draining  work  of  the 
Central  Park  in  New  York,  there  was  gauged  (on 
the  13th  of  July,  1859)  a  sudden  shower  in  which 
between  5.15  P.  M.  and  5.45  P.  M.  two  inches  of 
rain  fell. 

On  the  30th  and  31st  of  October,  1866,  the  Croton 
Aqueduct  Department  gauged  a  rain  storm  in  New 
York  which  lasted  for  about  five  hours  and  meas- 
ured four  inches  of  rain. 

Mr.  Rowe,  for  a  long  time  superintendent  of  sew- 
ers in  the  Holborn  and  Finsbury  District  of  London, 
writing  in  defense  of  large  sewers  which  he  had  con- 
structed, says : — 

"  I  have  observed  twenty-five  cubic  feet  of  water 
per  minute  per  acre  reach  the  sewers  from  an  inch 
fall  of  rain  in  the  hour,  from  a  surface  where  the 
houses  have  much  garden  ground  attached ;  and  in 
another  case,  where  the  houses  were  nearer  together, 
thirty-three  cubic  feet  per  acre  per  minute.  That 
greater  falls  of  water  do  take  place,  and  that  not 
unfrequently,  is  a  well-known  fact.  I  have  known 
ten  instances  of  the  kind  during  the  period  of  my 
observations  "  (twenty  years). 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      133 


It  is  a  safe  rule  to  estimate  all  sewage  except 
rain-fall  at  eight  cubic  feet  per  head  of  population 
per  day.  Of  this,  one  half  will  be  discharged  be- 
tween nine  A.  M.  and  five  P.  M.,  equal  to  a  flow  of 
five  hundred  cubic  feet  per  hour  for  each  thousand 
of  the  population. 

Sewers  choke  and  overflow  during  heavy  storms 
mainly  because  they  are  too  large  for  the  work  they 
are  ordinarily  called  on  to  perform.  If  a  sewer  is 
so  small  that  its  usual 
flow  is  concentrated  to  a 
sufficient  depth  to  carry 
before  it  any  ordinary 
obstruction,  it  will  keep 
itself  clean.  But  if,  as 
is  almost  always  the  case 
where  the  engineer  lacks 
experience  or  where  he 
defers  to  the  ignorance 
of  the  local  authorities, 
't  is  so  large  that  its 
ordinary  flow  is  hardly 
more  than  a  film,  with 
no  power  even  to  remove 
tand,  we  may  be  quite  Fisure  2-  -  Cro's  section  of  a 

.        "  TJ     l&rSe  sewer  filled  bv  the  gradual 

rflire  that  its  refuse  SOlld     accumulation  of  silt  until  only  suf- 
matters     Will     gradually     ncient   water-way    is   left   for   the 

accumulate    until    they   8raalles 
leave,  near  the  crown  of  the  arch,  only  the  space 
needed  for  the  smallest  constant  stream.     And,  in 
order  to  make  room  for  a  rain-fall  flow   the  whole 


134      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

sewer  will  have  to  be  cleared  by  the  costly  and 
offensive  process  of  removal  by  manual  labor.  A 
smaller  sewer  would  have  been  kept  clear  by  its 
own  flow. 

The  shallower  and  broader  the  stream,  the  more 
the  friction  against  the  bottom  and  sides  and  the 
greater  the  retarding  of  velocity.  A  brick  will 
stand  unmoved  in  a  shallow  stream  of  water  run- 
ning sluggishly  through  a  fifteen-inch  drain,  while 
if  the  same  stream  were  concentrated  into  a  five- 
inch  drain  it  would  have  so  much  greater  depth, 
force,  and  velocity,  that  the  brick  would  be  entirely 
covered  and  swept  away. 

The  passion  for  too  large  pipes  seems  to  be  an 
almost  universal  one.  The  feeling  is  that  it  is  best 
to  make  the  conduit  "  big  enough  anyhow,"  and  as 
a  result,  nearly  every  drain  that  is  laid,  in  town  or 
country,  is  so  much  larger  than  is  needful  that  the 
cost  of  keeping  it  clean  is  often  the  most  serious 
item  of  cost  connected  with  it. 

One  principle  is  very  apt  to  be  disregarded  in 
regulating  the  sizes  of  sewers ;  that  is,  that  after 
water  has  once  fairly  entered  a  smooth  conduit 
laving  a  fall  or  inclination  towards  its  outlet,  the 
rapidity  of  the  flow  is  constantly  accelerated  up 
to  a  certain  point,  and  the  faster  the  stream  runs 
the  smaller  it  becomes  ;  consequently,  although  the 
sewer  may  be  quite  full  at  its  upper  end,  the 
increasing  velocity  soon  reduces  the  size  of  the 
stream,  and  gives  room  for  more  water.  It  is 
fcund  possible  in  practice,  to  make  constant  addi 


ARRANGING   PLANS    FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      136 


kions  to  the  volume  of  water  flowing  through  a  sewei 
by  means  of  inlets  entering  at  short  intervals,  and 
the  aggregate  area  of  the  inlets  is  thus  increased 
to  very  many  times  the  area  of  the  sewer  itself. 
Where  a  proper  inclination  can  be  obtained,  a  pipe 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter  makes  an  ample  sewer 
for  a  population  of  ten  thousand. 

It  was  formerly  the  custom  with  architects  and 
engineers  to  enlarge  the  area  of  any  main  pipe  or 
sewer  in  proportion  to  the  sectional  area  of  each 
subsidiary  drain  delivering  into  it.  But  this  is  no 
longer  done,  since  it  has  become  known  that  ad- 
ditions to  the  stream  increase  its  velocity,  so  that 
there  is  no  proportionate  increase  of  its  sectional 
area.  For  example,  the  addition  of  eight  junctions, 
each  three  inches  in  diameter  to  a  main  line  of  four- 
inch  pipe,  did  not  increase  the  sectional  area  of  its 
flow,  but  made  the  flow  only  more  rapid  and  cleans- 
ing. Ranger  thus  illustrates  the  average  architect's 


J3, 


Figures. 


A,  S-fnch  drop  or  soil  pipe. 

6,  9-inch  intermediate  drain  (9  times  the  area  of  A). 
C,  26-inch  sewer  (8£  times  the  aiea  of  B,  and  75  times  the  ami 
If  A). 


136      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

method  of  draining  a  house  and  court.  The  reason 
for  making  B  so  large  is  to  prevent  its  choking,  an 
effect  that  its  extra  size  is  quite  sure  to  produce. 

The  main  sewer  in  Upper  George  Street,  in  Lon- 
don, is  five  and  one  half  feet  high  and  three  and 
one  half  feet  wide.  In  the  bottom  of  this  sewei 
there  was  laid  a  twelve-inch  pipe  five  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  long.  A  head-wall  or  dam  was  built  at 
the  upper  end  of  this,  so  that  all  the  sewage  had  to 
pass  through  the  pipe.  The  whole  area  drained  was 
about  forty -four  acres  (built  area).  The  velocity 
of  the  water  in  the  pipe  was  found  to  be  four  and 
one  half  times  greater  than  on  the  bed  of  the  old 
sewer.  The  pipe  contained  no  deposit,  and  during 
rains  stones  could  be  heard  rattling  through  it. 
The  force  of  water  issuing  from  the  pipe  kept  the 
bottom  of  the  old  sewer  perfectly  clean  for  about 
twelve  feet  below  its  mouth.  From  this  point  bricks 
and  stones  began  to  be  deposited,  and  farther  on 
sand,  mud,  and  other  refuse,  to  the  depth  of  several 
inches.  In  one  trial  a  quantity  of  sand,  bricks, 
stones,  mud,  etc.,  was  put  into  the  head  of  the  pipe  ; 
the  whole  of  this  was  passed  clear  through  the  pipe, 
md  much  of  it  was  deposited  on  the  bottom  of  the 
old  sewer  some  distance  from  its  end.  The  pipe  was 
rarely  observed  to  be  more  than  half  full  at  its  head. 
It  was  found  that  the  sum  of  the  cross  sections  oi 
the  house  drains  delivering  to  this  half-full  twelve- 
inch  pipe  was  equal  to  a  circle  thirty  feet  in  diam 
eter. 

Another  experiment  was  made  with  a  sewer  in 


ARRANGING  PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       137 

Earl  Street,  which  took  the  drainage  from  twelve 
hundred  average-sized  London  houses,  the  area  oc- 
cupied being  forty-three  acres  of  paved  or  covered 
surface.  It  was  three  feet  wide  and  had  a  sectional 
area  of  fifteen  feet,  with  an  average  fall  of  one  in 
one  hundred  and  eighteen.  The  solid  deposit  from 
the  twelve  hundred  houses  accumulated  to  the 
amount  of  six  thousand  cubic  feet  per  month  (two 
hundred  and  twenty-two  cart-loads).  A  fifteen-inch 
pipe  placed  in  this  sewer,  with  an  inclination  of  one 
in  one  hundred  and  fifty-three,  kept  perfectly  clear 
of  deposit.  The  average  flow  from  each  house  was 
about  fifty-one  gallons  per  day,  and,  apart  from 
rain-fall,  the  twelve  hundred  houses  would  have 
been  drained  by  a  five-inch  pipe.  It  was  estimated 
that  at  that  time  (about  twenty-five  years  ago)  the 
mere  house  drainage  of  the  whole  of  London  might 
be  discharged  through  a  sewer  three  feet  in  diam- 
eter; yet  there  is  probably  not  a  village  of  five 
thousand  inhabitants  in  the  United  States  whose 
magnates  would  be  satisfied  with  a  sewer  of  much 
less  size  for  their  own  purposes ;  and  a  single  hotel 
in  Saratoga  has  secured  future  trouble  in  the  way 
of  the  accumulation  of  raw  material  for  the  produc- 
tion of  poisonous  sewer  gas,  by  laying  a  drain  for 
its  own  use  thirty  inches  in  diameter. 

A  fifteen-inch  sewer  was  formerly  considered  the 
•mallest  size  admissible  for  the  drainage  of  a  "  man- 
sion." Such  a  sewer,  with  a  fall  of  one  in  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  or  one  inch  in  ten  feet,  would 
drain  nearly  two  hundred  of  the  largest  city  houses 


138   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

and  a  nine-inch  drain  with  the  same  inclination 
would  remove  the  house-drainage  and  storm  water 
from  twenty  such  houses. 

A  curious  example  of  the  capacity  of  small  pipes 
was  furnished  in  a  case  where  a  six-inch  pipe  waa 
laid  for  the  drainage  of  one  detached  house.  One 
after  another,  as  new  houses  were  built,  new  drains 
were  connected  with  this  same  pipe,  until,  after  a 
time,  it  was  found  to  be  clean  and  in  perfect  action, 
though  carrying  all  the  drainage  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  houses.  In  a  second  instance  a  workman  by 
mistake  used  for  the  drainage  of  a  large  block  of 
houses  a  pipe  which  the  architect  had  intended  for 
a  single  house,  and  it  was  found  to  work  perfectly. 

It  may  be  taken  as  a  rule  that,  with  even  a  slight 
fall,  a  well-constructed  eighteen-inch  pipe  sewer  is 
ample  for  the  drainage  of  an  ordinary  village  area 
containing  seven  or  eight  hundred  houses.  In  one 
instance  a  sewer  of  this  size,  having  a  fall  of  one  in 
one  thousand,  accumulated  but  little  deposit,  and 
this  was  always  removed  by  storms.  In  Tottenham 
(London),  a  main  sewer  of  nine-inch  pipe,  widening 
to  twelve-inch  and  afterward  to  eighteen-inch,  and 
having  a  fall  of  one  in  one  thousand  and  sixty-two, 
drained  an  area  containing  sixteen  hundred  houses. 
Its  ordinary  current  was  two  and  one  half  miles  per 
hour,  and  brickbats  introduced  into  it  were  carried 
to  the  outlet.  During  ordinary  continued  rains  it 
was  not  more  than  half  full  half  a  mile  from  the 
outlet,  and  at  the  outlet  the  stream  was  only  twc 
*nd  three  fourths  inches  deep. 


ARRANGING  PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       139 

Rats  and  vermin  live  and  breed  in  large  sewers, 
never  in  small  pipes. 

While  these  chapters  were  being  prepared  for 
publication,  the  Sewer  Commissioners  of  Saratoga 
(the  writer  being  employed  as  their  consulting  en- 
gineer) completed  a  main  sewer  more  than  two  miles 
long,  for  the  removal  of  the  entire  sewage,  rain-fall, 
and  spring-water  drainage  of  that  village.  The  ex- 
perience with  this  work  affords  so  pertinent  an  illus- 
tration of  the  principles  here  advanced  that  it  seems 
worth  while  to  refer  to  it.  The  village  is  large  and 
scattered,  has  an  abundant  water  supply,  is  so 
inclined  that  during  showers  its  storm  waters  <  on- 
centrate  rapidly,  and  has,  aside  from  its  regular 
population,  five  or  six  enormous  hotels,  entertain- 
ing, when  full,  about  as  many  thousand  guests. 
The  village  brook  itself,  being  mainly  supplied  by 
spring  water  flowing  from  various  points  over  a 
wide  district,  is  always  a  considerable  stream.  As 
it  flowed  through  its  old  channel  —  a  conduit  with 
rough,  loosely-laid  stone  side- walls,  and  with  a  more 
or  less  irregular  bottom  —  its  sectional  area  was 
about  five  feet.  During  heavy  rains  it  was  some- 
times thrice  this. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  work  we  encoun 
tered  the  most  violent  opposition  on  the  part  of 
many  citizens,  who  believed  that  the  sewer  contem- 
plated (circular,  three  feet  in  diameter)  would  be 
entirely  inadequate,  not  only  for  the  removal  of  the 
water  of  heavy  rains,  but  even  for  the  drainage  of 
khe  hotels  alone,  or  the  carrying  of  the  storm  waters 


L40      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

alone  ;  and  throughout  its  construction  this  main 
sewer  was  derided  as  a  "  cat  hole."  We  were  con 
stantly  reminded  that  one  hotel  had  a  main  drain 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter,  and  another  a  drain  twc 
and  one  half  feet  in  diameter,  and  that  it  was  mad- 
ness, with  these  drains  as  our  guide,  to  attempt  to 
accomplish  the  whole  work  with  a  three-foot  sewer  ; 
especially  as  our  fall  was  said  to  be  slight,  one  foot 
in  four  hundred  feet. 

On  the  9th  of  July,  1875,  the  connections  were 
made  with  all  of  the  hotels  ;  the  village  brook  itself 
was  turned  into  the  sewer  at  its  head,  and  its  insuffi- 
ciency was  to  be  demonstrated.  After  every  avail- 
able source  of  water  had  been  drained,  the  depth  of 
flow  in  the  upper  part  of  the  sewer  was  six  and  one 
half  inches.  Nearer  the  outlet,  where  the  water  had 
acquired  its  maximum  velocity,  it  was  only  four  and 
one  half  inches.  As  this  was  not  sufficient  to  wash 
out  the  few  loose  boards  carelessly  left  by  the  work- 
men who  had  done  the  final  pointing  of  the  joints, 
a  hydrant  was  turned  on  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
sewer,  with  a  full  head,  and  it  had  the  effect  only 
of  raising  the  flow  one  inch  at  the  upper  end  and 
less  than  half  an  inch  at  the  lower  end  of  the  sewer. 
On  the  10th  there  fell  a  violent  thunder-shower, 
flooding  the  street  gutters  until  the  water  ran  to  the 
top  of  the  curb-stones,  and  when  this  flood  had 
reached  the  catch-basins  and  the  open  brook  that 
discharged  into  the  head  of  the  sewer,  its  only  effect 
was  to  raise  the  flow,  at  the  highest  point,  less  than 
u.wo  inches,  justifying  the  original  opinion  that  a 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       Ill 

two  foot  sewer  would  have  been  more  than  adequate 
for  all  that  was  required  of  it.  On  the  30th  day  of 
August  the  entire  village  brook,  with  its  tributaries 
and  its  many  springs,  was  turned  into  the  three-foot 
sewer,  near  the  water- works,  about  one-half  mile 
beyond  the  outskirts  of  the  village.  The  effect  of 
this  addition  was  to  increase  the  depth  of  flow  in 
the  sewer  from  about  six  inches  to  nine  inched,  and 
to  increase  the  velocity  of  its  stream  from  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  per  minute  to  one  hundred  and 
eighty-five  feet  per  minute.  I  can  excuse  my  course 
in  recommending  so  large  a  sewer  as  one  of  three 
feet,  only  by  the  fact  that  in  the  state  of  public 
opinion  then  it  would  have  been  entirely  impossible 
to  secure  the  making  of  anything  smaller.  Before 
the  introduction  of  the  brook  I  examined  the  out- 
let of  the  Grand  Union  Hotel,  which  had  then  about 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  guests  and  four  hundred  and 
fifty  servants,  or  about  thirteen  hundred  inmates  in 
all.  There  can  hardly  be  fewer  than  one  hundred 
water-closets  in  the  house,  and  the  use  of  water  in 
this  hotel  seems  to  be  in  every  way  as  copious  as 
possible.  The  hour  of  examination  was  ten  in  the 
morning,  at  which  time,  as  the  landlord  supposes, 
the  largest  flow  is  running.  By  the  most  careful 
measurement  and  estimate  that  I  could  make,  the 
amount  of  sewage  then  flowing  from  that  hotel  meas- 
ured four  and  one  half  inches  in  sectional  area,  and 
might  have  all  been  discharged  by  a  two  and  one 
half  inch  pipe. 

Concerning  the  rate  of  fall  necessary  for  the  re- 


142      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

moval  of  ordinary  road  silt  from  sewers,  Adams 
gives  the  following  table  of  inclination  for  pipes  of 
different  sizes  running  half  full ;  based  on  careful 
calculations  and  practical  trials  with  the  sewerage 
works  of.  the  city  of  Brooklyn. 

For  6-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  60. 
For  9-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  90. 
For  12-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  200. 
For  15-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  250. 
For  18-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  300. 
For  24-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  400. 
For  30-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  500. 
For  36-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  600. 
For  42-inch  pipes  a  grade  of  1  in  700. 
For  48-inch  pipes  c  grade  of  1  in  800. 

When  the  direction  changes,  the  friction  is  in- 
creased, and  the  fall  must  be  increased  to  com- 
pensate for  this. 

When  the  lay  of  the  land  permits  it,  the  most 
rapid  fall  should  be  given  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
sewer,  where  the  quantity  of  water  is  least,  and 
where  the  greatest  velocity  is  consequently  needed 
to  secure  a  cleansing  flow. 

The  object  of  giving  an  inclination  or  fall  to  the 
sewer  is  to  secure  the  velocity  necessary  for  the  re- 
moval of  such  solid  matters  as  may  exist  in  the 
sewage,  but  if  the  amount  of  water  flowing  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  size  of  the  conduit,  sewers  of  dif- 
ferent sizes  give  the  same  velocity  at  different  incli- 
nations :  for  instance,  a  ten-foot  sewer  with  a  fall  of 
two  feet  per  mile,  a  five-foot  sewer  with  a  fall  of 
four  feet  per  mile,  a  two-foot  sewer  with  a  fall  of 
ten  feet  per  mile,  and  a  one-foot  sewer  with  a  falj 


ARRANGING   PLANS  FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       143 

of  twenty  feet  per  mile,  will  have  the  same  veloc- 
ity, provided  they  are  filled  in  proportion  to  their 
capacity ;  but  the  ten-foot  sewer  will  require  one 
hundred  times  as  much  sewage  as  will  the  one-foot 
sewer,  and  unless  it  carries  a  volume  of  water 
proportioned  to  its  capacity,  the  velocity  of  its 
stream  will  be  correspondingly  lessened.  It  be- 
comes, therefore,  especially  important  that  the  size 
of  the  conduit  be  adjusted  to  the  volume  of  the 
stream,  this  being  as  important  as  the  rate  of  incli- 
nation in  securing  a  cleansing  flow,  and  being  so 
little  understood  that  it  cannot  be  too  much  em- 
phasized in  any  attempt  to  bring  the  mechanism 
of  sewerage  works  to  the  notice  of  the  general 
public. 

Latham  gives  a  velocity  of  three  feet  per  second 
as  the  least  that  should  be  allowed  for  the  outlet 
drain  of  a  house.  A  four-inch  drain  to  secure  this 
flow  should  have  a  minimum  inclination  of  one  in 
ninety-two ;  a  six-inch  drain,  one  in  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  ;  a  nine-inch  drain,  one  in  two 
hundred  and  six ;  and  to  attain  a  velocity  of  three 
feet  per  second  at  these  inclinations  they  must  run 
at  least  half  full ;  that  is,  the  four-inch  drain  must 
discharge  7. 85 cubic  feet  per  minute;  six-inch  17.66 
cubic  feet  per  minute ;  and  nine-inch,  39.76  cubic 
feet  per  minute.  It  is  very  seldom  indeed  that 
even  a  large  boarding-house  discharges  a  flow  equal 
to  7.85  cubic  feet  per  minute,  and  in  practice,  while 
too  large  outlets  should  aways  be  avoided  for  house 
Irains,  any  such  drain  should  have  considerably 


144     SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TO\VNS. 

more  than  the  minimum  rate  of  fall  indicated 
above. 

It  cannot  be  too  often  reiterated  that  the  great 
purpose  of  modern  water  sewerage  is  to  remove 
immediately,  entirely  beyond  the  occupied  portions 
of  a  town,  all  manner  of  domestic  waste  and  filth 
before  it  has  time  to  enter  into  decomposition  ; 
thus  preventing  an  accumulation  of  dangerous 
matter,  and  obviating  the  necessity  for  employing 
men  in  the  unwholesome  work  of  hand-cleansing  of 
cess-pools  and  of  sewers  of  deposit,  which  all  seivers 
are  apt  to  become  when  materially  too  large  for  the 
work  they  have  to  perform. 

The  pipe  sewer  has  been  so  long  in  successful  use 
that  there  is  no  further  question  of  its  value.  Even 
ten  years  ago,  fifty  miles  of  such  pipe  were  made 
per  week  in  Great  Britain  alone. 

Accuracy  in  form  and  joints,  and  smoothness  of 
surface,  are  very  important.  A  perfectly  round 
pipe,  accurately  laid  at  the  joints,  will  deliver, 
under  the  same  circumstances,  fifty  per  cent,  more 
water  than  one  of  distorted  form  or  with  ill-fitting 
joints. 

Any  roughness  of  surface  as  in  even  the  best 
made  cement  pipes,  tends  to  catch  hair  and  lint  and 
thus  to  form  nuclei  for  accumulating  obstructions, 
sometimes  so  hard  that  they  can  be  removed  only 
by  forcible  mechanical  means. 

With  a  well-constructed  system  of  pipe  sewers 
not  too  large  for  the  work  required  of  them,  ol 
good  form  and  surface,  with  perfect  joints,  with 


ARRANGING   PLANS    FOR   TOWN    SEWERAGE.       145 

3nly  curved  junctions,  and  with  a  well  regulated 
even  if  slight  fall,  every  particle  of  the  sewage  of 
the  town  may  be  delivered  at  the  outlet,  far  away 
from  the  built-up  districts,  long  before  any  decom- 
position of  the  refuse  matter  has  set  in  ;  though 
occasional  flushing  may  be  necessary  to  cleanse  the 
sides  of  the  pipes  from  slimy  matters  adhering  to 
them. 

The  material  of  the  pipe  should  be  a  hard,  vitre- 
ous substance,  not  porous,  since  this  would  lead  to 
the  absorption  of  the  impure  contents  of  the  drain, 
would  have  less  actual  strength  to  resist  pressure, 
would  be  more  affected  by  frost  or  by  the  formation 
of  crystals  in  connection  with  certain  chemical  com- 
binations, or  would  be  more  susceptible  to  the 
chemical  action  of  the  constituents  of  the  sew- 
age. The  best  pipe  known  in  our  market  is  the 
Scotch  ;  but  some  American  work  is  very  nearly  as 
good. 

Much  experience  with  cement  sewer  pipes  seem 
to  demonstrate  that  they  are  not  sufficiently  uni- 
form in  quality,  nor  sufficiently  strong  and  durable 
to  be  used  with  confidence  in  any  important  work, 
—  whether  public  or  private. 

Sewer  pipes  should  be  salt-glazed,  as  this  re- 
quires them  to  be  subjected  to  a  much  more  intense 
heat  than  is  needed  for  slip-glazing,  and  thus  secures 
a  harder  material. 

Pipes  having  a  socket  at  one  end  should  be  fur- 
nished with  a  gasket  before  being  cemented,  in 
order  that  no  cement  may  be  pressed  through  into 
10 


146       SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

the  bore  of  the  sewer,  to  cause  a  disturbance  of  the 
flow.  Where  there  is  danger  of  the  penetration  of 
roots,  as  near  elm-trees,  the  sewer  should  be  bedded 
in  a  sufficient  thickness  of  concrete  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  rootlets,  which  are  sure  to  find  and  to 
penetrate  the  smallest  aperture.  An  entrance  once 
effected,  a  mass  of  fibres  soon  forms,  sufficient  to 
retard  or  entirely  to  arrest  the  flow. 

There  has  been  patented  in  England  a  joint  for 
earthern-ware  drains  which  is  made  by  casting  upon 
the  spigot  and  in  the  socket  of  each  pipe,  by  means 
of  prepared  molds,  rings  of  good  cement  which  will 
make  a  tight  fit  and  bring  the  bore  exactly  into 
line. 

A  chief  argument  in  favor  of  the  use  of  pipes 
rather  than  brick  sewers  lies  in  their  greater  essen- 
tial cleanliness.  Brick  sewers  are  always  offensive, 
even  though  small,  because  their  porous  walls  are 
more  or  less  permeated  by  the  filth  of  their  con- 
tents. If  (as  is  almost  always  the  case)  they  are 
too  large,  there  will  be  the  additional  annoyance  of 
accumulations  of  refuse  as  foul  and  dangerous  as 
the  contents  of  any  cess-pool,  producing  poisonous 
gases  which  are  free  to  travel  through  the  sewer 
and  all  its  branches. 

FORMS   OF   SEWEKS. 

The  desirable  forms  of  sewers  are  three  in  num- 
oer :  the  round,  the  elliptic,  or  egg-shaped,  and  that 
with  perpendicular  walls,  having  a  semi-circular  rool 
a,nd  a  hollowed  floor. 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       147 

The  circular  form  gives  the  greatest  sectional  area 
for  the  amount  of  wall  required,  and,  therefore,  the 
greatest  capacity  for  discharge.  All  sewers  which 
are  at  all  well  adapted  in  their  size  to  the  regular 
daily  work  that  they  will  have  to  perform  are  best 
made  of  circular  shape,  but  where  in  addition  to  the 
daily  use  provision  has  to  be  made  for  the  removal 
of  the  waters  of  heavy  rains,  so  that  at  times  a  very 
much  greater  capacity  will  be  needed,  the  elliptical 
form  is  to  be  preferred. 


Figure  4. 

Figure  4  illustrates  the  advantage  of  the  elliptical 
form  for  this  purpose.  The  circle  O  D  (7  represents 
a  circular  sewer  twelve  inches  in  diameter,  which  we 
will  suppose  to  be  sufficient  for  the  ordinary  sew- 
age of  a  district  in  which  the  minimum  depth  of 
flow  would  be  three  inches. 


148      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF    HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

As  there  is  ordinarily  only  this  minimum  flow, 
and  as  it  is  desirable  to  preserve  this  depth  in  order 
to  cleanse  the  sewer,  it  would  be  unwise,  in  order  tc 
secure  the  storm  water  capacity  desired,  to  adopt  a 
large  circular  sewer  in  which,  because  of  its  greater 
width,  the  minimum  flow  would  be  less  than  one 
inch  deep,  —  not  sufficient  in  depth  or  velocity  for 
the  removal  of  deposits.  Therefore,  in  order  to  in- 
crease the  capacity  as  much  as  is  necessary,  instead 
of  enlarging  the  circle  we  preserve  the  bottom  form, 
G  E  O ',  remove  the  top  of  the  circle  and  carry  it  up 
to  a  height  of  thirty-six  inches,  its  greatest  width 
being  twenty-four  inches.  In  this  way  we  preserve 
always  our  cleansing  flow  in  a  narrow  and  deep 
channel  and  give  the  needed  capacity  for  the  re- 
moval of  storm  waters. 

Pipe  sewers,  which  may  be  economically  used  up 
to  a  size  of  eighteen  inches  diameter,  should  always 
be  round,  —  the  slight  warping  to  which  earthen- 
ware is  subjected  in  burning  being  likely  to  throw 
the  ellipse  out  of  its  form,  so  that  good  joints  can- 
not be  made,  while  with  the  circle  we  can  at  least 
be  sure  of  a  perfect  fitting  in  the  water-way  by 
turning  the  truest  side  of  the  pipe  to  the  bottom. 
Larger  sewers,  if  they  have  sufficient  regular  flow 
to  carry  off  all  sedimentary  matters,  should  still  be 
made  round,  as  this  form  is  the  cheapest  and  the 
strongest. 

It  is  only  when  the  flow  is  very  irregular,  and 
when  this  is  the  only  available  means  for  securing 
the  proper  cleansing  minimum  flow,  that  the  egg 
•haoerl  should  be  adopted. 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR  TOWN   SEWERAGE.       149 

The  sewer  with  vertical  sides  and  arched  roof  is  to 
be  adopted  only  under  exceptional  circumstances, 
when  the  minimum  flow  is  always  large,  and  where 
great  capacity  is  needed. 

THE   SEPARATE   SYSTEM. 

In  what  has  been  said,  the  carrying  away  of  the 
water  of  excessive  floods  to  a  separate  point  of  out- 
let, giving  a  more  remote  or  more  artificial  outflow 
to  the  regular  sewage  of  the  town,  I  am  not  to  be 
understood  as  indorsing  all  that  its  advocates  claim 
for  what  they  call  "The  Separate  System,"  which 
is  (theoretically)  the  carrying  of  all  rain-fall  and 
all  surface  water  away  by  one  outlet,  and  the  car- 
carrying  of  the  foul  sewage  (house  waste,  etc.) 
through  the  regular  system  of  pipes,  delivering  it 
in  a  concentrated  form  for  agricultural  use. 

Whatever  advantage  may  arise  to  the  farmer 
from  the  fact  that  he  receives  his  liquid  manure  in 
a  more  concentrated  form,  and  that  it  comes  to  him 
in  a  regular  daily  quantity  which  he  may  more 
readily  arrange  to  use,  there  would  be  a  more  than 
corresponding  disadvantage  to  the  public  in  the 
fact  that  the  house  waste  alone  is  not  sufficient, 
save  perhaps  where  the  grades  are  very  steep,  to 
keep  the  sewers  clean.  Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, an  attempt  to  make  this  disposition  of  the 
sewage  matters  of  a  town  would  undoubtedly  result 
in  the  necessity  for  much  artificial  flushing  and 
cleansing,  and  to  the  danger  of  the  frequent  stop 
page  of  smaller  pioes  and  house  drains. 


150      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

To  keep  all  rain-fall  out  of  the  public  sewers  is 
objectionable  for  more  reasons  than  one,  for  no  arti- 
ficial flushing  which  can  be  depended  on  in  practice 
can  be  so  efficient  in  cleansing  the  sewers  as  the 
frequent  introduction  of  a  sufficient  amount  of  rain 
water.  On  the  other  hand,  where  it  is  practicable 
to  do  so,  the  removal  of  the  surface  water  of  exces- 
sive storms  by  some  channel  entirely  separate  from 
the  general  system  of  sewerage  has  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  economy,  while  it  often  enables  us  to 
secure  within  reasonable  cost  the  more  distant  re- 
moval of  the  foul  sewage.  (See  note  on  page  171.) 

THE  VENTILATION   OP  SEWEES. 

All  sewers  must  at  least  be  vented,  and  for  per- 
fect security  all  ought  to  be  well  ventilated.  It  is 
of  the  first  importance  to  provide  openings  for  the 
escape  of  the  contained  air  and  gases  when  these 
are  compressed,  either  by  a  wind  blowing  into  the 
outlet  or  by  the  increase  of  the  quantity  of  water 
in  the  sewer  from  the  rise  of  the  tide  or  from  heavy 
rain-fall.  Unless  such  precaution  is  taken,  house 
traps  will  surely  be  forced  and  sewer  gas  will  surely 
escape  into  dwellings.  It  is,  however,  hardly  less 
important  that  there  should  be  such  a  free  circula- 
tion of  air  through  the  sewer  as  will  prevent  the 
eormation  of  those  poisonous,  mephitic  gases  which 
t.re  especially  generated  in  the  absence  of  a  suffi- 
3ient  supply  of  oxygen. 

Latham  says  that  unventilated  sewers  are  fai 
oaore  dangerous  than  steam-engines  without  safety 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       151 

valves.  They  contain  in  their  air  some  quality 
that  is  pestilential  and  dangerous  to  health,  and 
this  can  be  disposed  of  or  neutralized  only  by  giv- 
ing the  air  of  the  sewer  a  free  communication  with 
the  atmosphere.  Typhoid  fever  is  said  rarely  to 
be  absent  from  towns  with  unventilated  sewers. 
The  constantly  changing  pressure  upon  the  confined 
air  within  these  conduits  acts  in  connection  with 
the  draughts  of  chimneys  and  the  force  of  winds 
to  cause  the  bubbling  of  house  traps,  accompanied 
with  an  entrance  of  more  or  less  of  the  sewer 
emanations. 

When  the  sewerage  works  of  Croydon  were 
nearly  completed  and  the  town  was  visited  by  an 
epidemic  of  typhoid  fever,  the  mortality  rose  from 
18.53  per  thousand  to  28.57  per  thousand.  Al- 
though it  is  probable  that  the  only  matters  decom- 
posing in  the  sewer  were  such  as  adhered  to  the 
pipes  (which  were  well  flushed),  there  were  fre- 
quent outbreaks  of  fever  until  1866.  Diseases 
which  had  formerly  made  their  haunts  in  the 
.ower  parts  of  the  town  traveled  by  means  of  the 
sewers  and  infected  the  higher  districts.  In  1866 
the  sewers  were  systematically  ventilated,  and  since 
that  time  there  have  been,  until  lately,  no  period- 
ical outbreaks  of  fever,  and,  with  a  doubled  popula- 
tion, "  the  rate  of  mortality  rarely  exceeds  eighteen 
in  the  thousand,  which  is  a  standard  of  health  un- 
paralleled in  the  history  of  sanitary  science  fora  dis- 
trict having  so  large  a  population."  Quite  recently 
%  Eorious  epidemic  of  typhoid  made  its  appearance 


152      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

owing  to  defects  which  were  described  in  Chapter 
II. 

The  principle  of  the  ventilation  of  a  sewer  is 
practically  the  same  as  that  adopted  by  builders  for 
the  prevention  of  dry-rot.  The  fungi  which  cause 
this  rot  in  timber  cannot  produce  their  germs  in  a 
current  of  air,  and  if  a  sufficient  number  of  ven- 
tilating openings  are  made,  communicating  with 
each  other,  the  action  of  the  wind  from  one  side 
or  the  other  will  cause  a  sufficient  current.  So  in 
a  sewer,  a  continuous  movement  of  the  air  in  one 
direction  or  the  other  carries  away  and  dilutes  sewer 
gases,  and  if  they  contain  germs  of  organic  disease 
capable  of  infecting  the  human  blood,  these  are  be- 
lieved to  be  destroyed  by  oxidation  or  otherwise. 

A  safe  sewer  always  has  a  current  of  air  passing 
through  it,  and  if  it  contains  sewage  matters  at 
all,  these  also  must  be  in  constant  motion.  On  this 
incessant  movement  of  the  air  and  the  liquid  must 
we  rely  for  our  only  security.  A  solution  of  sugar 
in  water,  remaining  stagnant,  and  protected  from  a 
free  circulation  of  air,  will  enter  into  a  vinous  fer- 
mentation. If  well  ventilated  and  agitated,  no  such 
fermentation  takes  place.  It  is  asserted  that  the 
excrement  of  a  typhoid  patient,  continually  agitated 
in  contact  with  fresh  air  and  a  fair  admixture  of 
water,  passes  through  a  series  of  complete  chemical 
changes,  with  no  injurious  product ;  but  if  allowed 
to  remain  stagnant,  if  not  freely  exposed  to  the  air 
or  if  it  gain  access  to  human  circulation  before  ? 
certain  oxidation,  it  will,  like  a  ferment,  reproduct 


ARRANGING  PLANS  FOR  TOWN  SEWERAGE.   153 

tself,  and  give  rise  to  the  conditions  under  which 
t  was  itself  produced.  Motion  and  aeration  are 
therefore  needed  to  prevent  infection,  which  is  sure 
bo  be  generated  when  typhoid  evacuations  are  con- 
tin  ed  and  stagnant.  Un ventilated  and  badly  con- 
structed sewers  are  sure  agents  for  the  propagation 
of  the  disease,  when  once  it  has  taken  root. 

The  resulting  gases  of  sewer  decomposition  are 
the  vehicle  or  medium  for  the  conveyance  of  infec- 
tion, and  from  their  lightness  they  give  rise  to  a 
rapid  diffusion  owing  to  the  eagerness  with  which 
they  seek  means  of  escape  at  the  higher  parts  of 
the  sewer  system,  that  is,  in  house  drains,  soil  pipes, 
etc.  It  may  not  be  possible  entirely  to  prevent  the 
development  of  the  poison  in  even  the  best  ar- 
ranged sewer,  but  it  is  possible,  by  a  free  admission 
of  air,  to  supply  the  oxygen  which  will  take  away 
its  sting  and  render  it  harmless.  Sewers  which 
have  large  and  frequent  openings  at  the  street  sur- 
face, and  through  which  the  liquid  contents  have 
a  constant  flow,  may  give  forth  offensive  smells, 
but,  if  they  have  proper  attention,  sanitary  evils  do 
not  often  result. 

Sewer  gas,  when  largely  diluted  on  its  escape 
(at  frequent  intervals)  into  the  air  of  the  street,  ia 
probably  nearly  or  quite  innoxious,  but  when  it 
forces  its  way  into  the  limited  atmosphere  of  a 
closed  living-room,  the  poison,  or  the  germs  of  dis- 
ease accompanying  it,  may  easily  work  their  fatal 
effects. 

Sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  found  in  all  aewers  in 


154      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

which  the  sewage  itself  or  the  mucous  matters  ad- 
hering to  the  pipe  assume  a  certain  degree  of  putrid- 
ity in  the  absence  of  a  sufficient  supply  of  fresh  air. 
This  gas  is  extremely  poisonous ;  so  much  so  that 
one  part  of  the  gas  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  parts 
of  atmospheric  air  will  kill  a  horse.  At  one  half 
this  intensity  it  will  kill  a  dog.  A  rabbit  was  killed 
by  having  its  body  immersed  in  a  bag  of  it,  although 
its  head  was  not  inclosed  and  it  could  breathe  pure 
air  freely. 

One  of  the  most  frequent  sources  of  pressure  upon 
the  air  within  a  sewer  is  the  increase  of  temperature 
arising  from  the  hot  water  escaping  from  kitchens 
and  baths.  The  repeated  expansions  and  contrac- 
tions caused  by  the  admission  of  hot  and  cold  water 
produce  a  constant  effect  on  all  water  traps  connect- 
ing with  unventilated  sewers.  With  ventilation, 
the  breathing  in  and  out,  as  the  air  of  the  sewer 
contracts  or  expands,  does  not  affect  the  water  traps, 
because  an  easier  passage  is  found  through  the  ven- 
tilators. 

The  constantly  changing  volume  of  water  in  many 
sewers,  as  has  been  before  stated,  exerts  a  powerful 
influence  on  the  confined  air.  As  the  water  rises  it 
reduces  the  air  space,  and  if  it  reduces  this  to  one 
half,  it  brings  to  bear  upon  the  air  a  pressure  equal 
to  a  column  of  water  thirty-four  feet  in  height,  and 
this  pressure  is  relieved  by  a  forcing  out  of  air 
through  the  most  available  channel,  —  the  channel 
where  there  is  the  least  resistance  ;  if  there  is  no 
t>ther  vent,  a  sufficient  number  of  water  traps  must 


ARRANGING   PLANS  FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       155 

be  forced  to  allow  the  pressure  to  become  reduced. 
It  being  reduced,  and  the  water  falling  again  to  a 
lower  level,  a  vacuum  is  created  which  must  be  sup- 
plied by  air  forcing  the  traps  in  a  reverse  direction, 
and  in  either  case  the  forced  trap  may  remain  open 
for  the  free  passage  of  foul  air  until  another  use  fills 
it  with  water.  In  the  ebb  and  flow,  too,  a  part  of 
the  perimeter  of  the  sewer  is  made  alternately  wet 
and  dry,  with  an  accompanying  production  of  vapor 
and  gas. 

As  the  chief  domestic  use  of  sewers  is  between 
morning  and  noon,  and  as  at  this  time  the  most  hot 
water  passes  into  them,  the  pressure  on  the  air  in 
the  sewer  is  during  this  period  increased  both  by  an 
elevation  of  the  temperature  and  by  a  reduction  of 
the  air  space.  Then,  from  about  noon  until  the  next 
morning,  the  quantity  of  the  flow  decreases,  the  air- 
space increases,  the  temperature  falls,  and  more  air 
must  be  admitted  to  supply  the  partial  vacuum 
created.  Such  fluctuations  are  constantly  occurring, 
accompanied  with  a  drawing  in  and  forcing  out  of 
air,  for  which  ample  passage  must  be  made  inde- 
pendently of  the  water  traps  of  houses,  or  sewer  gas 
will  surely  enter  them.  Where  proper  air  vents  are 
provided,  this  ebb  and  flow  of  the  sewer  may  be  in- 
creased, with  great  advantage  in  the  matter  of  ven- 
tilation, by  artificial  flushing  arrangements  which 
will  allow  the  water  to  be  dammed  back  and  released 
at  frequent  intervals. 

The  movement  of  the  air  in  and  out  of  the  sewei 
is  also  affected  by  barometric  changes. 


156   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

Where  proper  ventilation  is  furnished  there  will 
be  an  advantage  in  exposing  the  outlets  of  sewers  to 
the  direct  action  of  the  wind,  but  where  there  is  not 
sufficient  vent  for  escape,  such  outlets  should,  as  haa 
been  stated,  always  be  screened  against  strong  cur- 
rente  of  air. 

Numerous  experiments  have  been  made  with  tall 
chimneys  and  fires,  having  for  their  purpose  the 
creation  of  a  strong  draught  from  the  sewer,  but 
these  are  said  in  England  never  to  have  worked  sat- 
isfactorily, and  to  be  in  no  case  recommended,  being 
both  expensive  and  troublesome.  In  Frankfort,  on 
the  contrary,  such  ventilating  shafts  are  used  with 
apparent  good  effect. 

By  reason  of  the  causes  constantly  at  work  tend- 
ing to  the  increase  and  decrease  of  the  pressure  of 
the  air  in  the  sewer,  this  variation  may  safely  be 
depended  on  to  furnish  all  needed  ventilation,  if 
only  sufficient  openings  are  provided  from  which  air 
can  pass  in  and  out  at  frequent  intervals. 

Ventilation  by  rain-water  pipes  from  the  eaves  of 
houses  has  often  been  recommended,  but  experience 
has  shown  that  it  is  unsatisfactory,  not  only  because 
t  frequently  discharges  sewer  gas  near  the  windows 
.f  sleeping-rooms,  but  because  at  the  time  when 
ventilation  is  much  needed  these  pipes  are  not  avail- 
able ;  either  being  filled  with  a  rush  of  water  or  else 
having  such  a  rapid  downward  current  as  to  move 
the  air  toward  the  sewer  rather  than  away  from  it 
jr  because,  from  the  position  at  which  rain-watel 
inlets  are  often  introduced  into  sewers,  these  are  en 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       157 

tirely  closed  when  there  is  a  large  amount  of  sewage 
flowing,  —  as  during  heavy  rains,  when  ventilation 
is  especially  demanded. 

This  system  was  adopted  during  the  early  days  of 
the  Croydon  work,  and  was  rigorously  pursued. 
In  1860  such  ventilation  was  compulsory  in  all  cases. 
The  mortality  was  very  much  increased  until  a  bet- 
ter system  was  adopted  in  1866,  when  the  death- 
rate  fell  again  to  its  old  standard. 

In  "•  Hints  on  House  Drainage,"  by  Dr.  Carpen- 
ter of  Croydon,  we  are  told,  with  reference  to  fatal 
epidemics  of  typhoid  fever,  that  the  illness  dated 
from  two  distinct  times,  at  both  of  which,  with  a 
high  temperature  and  a  stifling  atmosphere,  there 
was  a  heavy  fall  of  rain.  "  I  do  not  mean  to  assert 
that  each  case  commenced  immediately  after  the 
rain-fall,  but  in  upwards  of  twenty  fatal  cases  into 
the  history  of  which  I  examined,  the  commencement 
curiously  ran  up  to  two  distinct  dates,  and  of  many 
slighter  cases  the  patients  stated  that  they  had  not 
felt  well  about  the  same  periods."  One  case  oc- 
curred in  his  own  house.  The  water-pipe  ventilators 
being  closed  by  the  rain  water,  and  the  air  in  the 
Bewers  being  compressed  by  the  increased  volume  of 
the  flow,  the  gas  forced  the  water  trap  of  his  soil 
pipe  and  escaped  into  his  tank  room,  where  the 
upper  end  of  the  ventilator  was  used  as  an  overflow 
pipe  for  the  cistern.  This  air  ascended  to  a  room 
occupied  by  two  persons,  botn  of  whom  were  at- 
tacked with  typhoid  fever.  There  were  no  otnet 
<ases  in  the  house. 


158      SANITARY    DRAINAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND   10WNS. 

After  all  the  experiments  that  have  been  tried 
with  shafts,  furnaces,  mechanical  blowers,  steam  jets, 
electricity,  etc.,  the  most  experienced  engineers  have 
settled  upon  more  frequent  ventilation,  by  means  of 
man-holes  and  lamp-holes  opening  at  the  centres  of 
streets,  as  in  all  respects  the  best  and  safest.  If 
these  openings  are  sufficiently  frequent  and  large, 
there  is  such  an  easy  and  thorough  circulation  of 
air  in  the  sewer  that  the  concentration  of  poisonous 
or  of  offensive  gases  is  prevented,  and  their  escape 
into  the  open  air  takes  place  at  a  point  where  they 
will  be  more  diluted  before  reaching  the  sidewalks 
or  the  houses  than  if  withdrawn  by  any  other  means 
yet  devised.  By  the  use  of  the  charcoal  ventilators 
described  below,  so  arranged  as  to  give  free  vent  at 
their  openings,  it  has  been  claimed  that  all  practi- 
cal danger  or  objection  may  be  obviated.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  held  by  many  competent  author- 
ities that  even  the  best  of  these  ventilators,  -while 
they  do  good  as  disinfecting  agents,  are  objection- 
able as  retarding  the  free  circulation  of  air  into  and 
out  of  the  sewer,  which  is  the  sovereign  remedy  for 
all  the  evil  arising  from  the  decomposition  of  the 
foul  contents. 

The  great  safety  lies  in  the  dilution  of  the  gases 
by  the  free  admission  of  air,  and  by  their  escape, 
when  they  escape  at  all,  into  the  open  air  as  far 
as  possible  from  the  house  line.  The  effect  of  di- 
lution is  fully  shown  in  fever  hospitals ;  formerly, 
the  mortality  among  both  patients  and  attendants 
was  frightful  to  contemplate ;  but  now,  althougi 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.      159 

the  ventilation  is  often  far  from  complete,  the  con- 
dition of  the  patients  themselves  is  much  improved, 
and  contagion  is  almost  done  away  with ;  so  much  so 
that  if  an  attendant  contracts  the  disease  it  is  taken 
as  clear  evidence  that  there  has  not  been  a  sufficient 
dilution  of  the  exhalations  from  the  patients,  or,  in 
other  words,  that  the  ventilation  has  been  imperfect. 

The  absorbing  and  disinfecting  power  of  charcoal 
fully  sustains  its  reputation.  Latham  quotes  the 
following  from  Professor  Musprat :  "  The  absorb- 
ing powers  of  charcoal  are  so  great  that  some  have 
doubted  whether  it  is  really  a  disinfectant.  This 
opinion  has  probably  arisen  from  imperfect  views  of 
its  modus  opp.randi,  since  it  not  only  imbibes  and 
destroys  all  offensive  exhalations  and  oxidizes  many 
of  the  products  of  decomposition,  but  there  ia 
scarcely  a  reasonable  ground  of  doubt  remaining 
that  it  does  really  possess  the  property  of  a  true  dis- 
infectant, acting  by  destroying  those  lethal  com- 
pounds upon  which  infection  depends." 

Strictly  speaking,  the  charcoal  is  simply  an  ap- 
paratus by  which  a  natural  process  is  carried  on  in 
an  intensified  form.  It  has  the  two  important 
qualities  of  condensing  upon  the  surfaces  of  its 
inner  particles  eight  or  ten  times  its  volume  of  oxy- 
gen, and  of  attracting  to  itself  all  manner  of  other 
gasee.  It  is  not  necessary  that  sewer  gas  bo 
brought  into  direct  contact  with  it  by  external 
pressure.  By  the  operation  of  the  law  of  the  dif- 
fusion of  gases,  the  impurities  of  the  air  next  to 
She  charcoal  being  absorbed,  remoter  impurities 


160      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND    TOWNS 


How  to  this  space  and  are  in  turn  taken  up,  until 
the  contents  of  a  close  room  may  be  entirely 
purified  by  a  small  dish  of  charcoal.  The  oxygen 
that  consumes  or  burns  up  the  organic  matter  is 
speedily  replaced  from  the  atmosphere,  and  the  con- 
stant efficiency  of  the  apparatus  is  thus  maintained. 
The  clogging  of  the  pores  of  the  charcoal  with 
dust,  or  their  saturation  with  water,  prevents  thia 
action,  and  charcoal  that  has  become  wet  or  foul 
must  be  dried  or  burned  in  a  retort  before  it  be- 
comes again  perfect  in  its  action.  If  charcoal  venti- 
lators are  so  situated  as  to  keep  dry  and  free  from 
dust,  they  will  not  require  changing  or  reburning 
more  often  than  once  a  year. 

The  efficiency  of  even  a  small  quantity  of  char- 
coal will  be  understood  when  we  remember  Liebig's 
statement,  that  a  cubic  inch  of  beech-wood  char- 
coal contains  a 
surface  of  inte- 
rior particles 
equal  to  one  hun- 
dred square  feet. 
The  especial 
adaptability  of 
charcoal  to  use  in 
sewer  ventilators 
is  further  shown 
by  the  fact  that 

Figure  5.  —  Latham's  charcoal  ventilator        j^    absorbs    ffases 
for  sewer  and  man-hole?.  .        , 

contained    in    or 

Accompanied  by  the  vapor  of  water  (as  they  always 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWL.RAGE.       161 

escape  from  the  sewer)  much  more  readily  than 
those  which  are  dry. 

Several  forms  of  charcoal  ventilators  have  been 
devised.  The  best  of  them  seems  to  be  that  of  Mr. 
Baldwin  Latham,  which  is  a  type  of  the  class,  all  of 
which  work  on  essentially  the  same  principle.  It 
is  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  diagrams  (Figs. 
5,  6).  The  central  cover,  (7,  which  is  of  wood,  pro- 
tects the  charcoal  from  rain  or  water  used  in  sprink- 
ling the  streets ;  g  is  a  grating  out- 
side of  the  closed  part,  through  which 
the  air  escapes  from  the  sewer  or  is 
drawn  into  it.  Under  this  grating 
is  a  dirt-box  surrounding  the  venti- 
lator and  intended  to  catch  dirt  fall- 
ing through  the  grating.  There  is  Figure  6.  — The 

9     _     .  charcoal    tray  for 

an  overflow  (Js)  arranged  to  carry  Latham's  ventiia- 
to  the  sewer  all  water  reaching  the  tor' 
dirt-boxes.  The  spiral  tray  t  is  made  of  galvanized 
wire-cloth  and  is  filled  with  charcoal ;  it  is  screwed 
into  the  ventilator  over  the  spiral  trough  S  by  means 
of  the  handle  h. 

The  arrangement  of  this  disinfector  is  such  that 
all  air  escaping  from  the  sewer  must  pass  either 
through  the  charcoal  or  through  the  spiral  passage 
between  layers  of  charcoal.  If  the  layers  become 
HO  obstructed  by  dust  that  a  free  passage  through 
them  is  not  afforded  for  the  air,  there  is  still  an 
easy  vent  through  the  spiral  open  spaces.  The 
charcoal  is  thoroughly  protected  against  dirt  and 
wet,  and  will  remain  effective  for  a  long  time,  and 
11 


162      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

the  arrangement  is  such  that  there  can  be  no  in- 
terruption of  the  working  by  the  accumulations  in 
the  dirt-boxes,  nor  by  the  overflow  of  the  water 
escaping  from  them.  The  sewer  gas  is  all  brought 
into  close  contact  with  charcoal,  and  has  no  possible 
means  for  escape  except  through  the  protected 
channels  intended  for  it.  The  spiral  tray  should 
be  filled  with  charcoal  broken  to  about  the  size  of 
marbles,  and  if  care  is  taken  in  screening  out  its 
finer  dust,  it  will  afford  a  very  permeable  passage 
for  gas.  The  dirt-box  can  be  easily  taken  out  and 
dumped,  and  readily  replaced. 

Ventilators  should  be  closer  together  in  the  lower 
and  filthier  parts  of  a  town  than  on  higher  lands  or 
steeper  inclines. 

Mr.  Latham  thinks  that  they  should  never  be 
more  than  two  hundred  yards  apart.  He  advises 
renewing  the  charcoal  once  a  month.  Five  hundred 
and  sixty-two  sets  of  his  apparatus  were  used  in 
Croydon.  Their  total  cost,  including  labor,  new 
charcoal,  fuel  for  reburning,  etc.,  made  a  charge  of 
less  than  one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  annum 
for  each.  The  charcoal  is  reburned  in  iron  retorts 
having  small  pipes  to  carry  away  the  escaping  gases. 

The  usefulness  of  the  charcoal  ventilators  is  dem- 
onstrated by  the  fact  that  in  Croydon  the  written 
complaints  of  smells  from  certain  sewers  coincided 
with  the  absence  of  the  trays  (taken  out  for  re- 
pairs), and  the  cause  of  the  complaint  was  removed 
•y  replacing  them. 

I  am  informed  that  notwithstanding  the  success 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR  TOWN   SEWERAGE.        163 

of  these  ventilators  in  Croydon,  they  are  (there  as 
elsewhere)  being  removed  for  the  sake  of  giving  a 
freer  passage  by  simple  open  grating  at  the  man- 
holes. It  may  therefore  be  assumed  that  however 
useful  charcoal  trays  may  be  in  cases  where  it  is 
necessary  to  have  ventilating  openings  close  to 
houses,  it  will  be  best  to  dispense  with  them  in  street 
sewers,  —  trusting,  rather,  to  the  less  obstructive 
communication  through  open  gratings.  (See  note 
on  page  171.) 

On  steep  grades,  where  there  would  be  a  tendency 
for  the  air  of  the  sewer  to  be  drawn  toward  the 
ventilators  on  the  highest  land,  discharging  at  this 
point  an  amount  of  gas  that  should  be  distributed 
along  the  whole  street,  it  is  well  to  place  a  light 
hanging  valve  in  front  of  each  outlet  into  a  man- 
hole. Such  a  valve  will  not  obstruct  the  flow  of 
the  sewage,  while  it  will  prevent  the  air  below  from 
finding  its  way  up  the  drain,  compelling  it  to  escape 
at  its  own  ventilator. 

Where  the  ventilators  used  are  not  in  connection 
with  man-holes,  they  should  rise,  not  from  the 
crown  of  the  sewer  itself,  but  from  a  recess  or  cham 
ber  carried  up  to  the  height  of  a  foot  or  more.  Into 
this  recess  the  sewer  air  will  naturally  rise  instead 
of  passing  on  up  the  line,  as  it  would  be  likely  to  do 
were  there  only  a  small  ventilator-opening  to  divert 
it. 

With  a  free  ventilation  through  the  soil  pipes  at 
every  house,  there  is  an  immense  preponderance  of 
area  in  favor  of  the  vertical  escapes,  and  these  are 
frequently  so  placed  that  they  become  sufficiently 


164      SANITARY    DRAINAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND    TOWNS. 

heated  to  create  a  strong  upward  current.  In  a  dis- 
trict containing  a  population  of  fifty  thousand  there 
would  probably  be  ten  thousand  of  these  vertical 
openings,  with  a  combined  area  equal  to  from 
twent}>-  to  forty  times  the  area  of  the  sewer  at  ita 
mouth,  so  that  their  action  would  result  more  or  lesa 
generally  in  the  drawing  in  of  air  at  the  street  open- 
ings ;  a  fact  which  is  sufficiently  proved  in  Croydon, 
by  the  accumulation  of  dust  in  dry  weather  in  the 
charcoal-baskets  with  which  the  street  openings  are 
furnished.  Where  the  orifice  is  a  continuous  exit, 
—  that  is,  where  there  is  no  inward  draught  of 
air,  —  the  charcoal  remains  black  in  spite  of  dusty 
streets. 

It  is  a  frequent  practice  with  engineers  to  admit 
house  drains  at  a  very  low  point  in  the  wall  of  the 
sewer,  where  they  will  ordinarily  be  entirely  sub- 
merged. This  renders  such  connections  inoperative 
as  a  means  for  ventilating  the  sewer,  and  the  venti- 
lation of  the  soil  pipes  of  houses  so  connected  will 
consequently  be  of  no  avail  as  a  part  of  the  public 
system  of  ventilation.  If  the  drain  has  no  ingress 
for  air  at  its  lower  end,  the  ventilation  of  the  soil 
pipe  itself  will  be  much  less  complete  ;  the  pent-up 
gases  arising  from  the  decomposition  of  the  con- 
tained organic  matters  may  escape,  but  there  will 
be  little  of  the  needed  circulation  of  air  in  the  pipe. 
With  a  free  sweep  of  air  from  below,  this  decompo- 
sition would  not  take  place  in  a  pent-up  condition, 
but  would  be  carried  on  with  a  full  supply  of  con 
stantly  changing  atmosphere.  Under  these  circuro 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       165 

stances  the  ventilation  of  the  street  sewer  would 
have  to  depend  upon  its  street  openings  alone.  In 
a  perfect  system  these  should  even  play  a  somewhat 
secondary  part^  acting  more  as  a  means  for  the  inlet 
of  fresh  air  to  supply  the  higher  ventilators  than  as 
a  means  of  escape  for  the  air  of  the  sewer  itself. 

All  manner  of  chemicals  used  for  disinfecting 
sewer  gas  are  objectionable,  from  their  unpleasant 
odor,  their  own  injurious  character,  the  constant 
attention  their  use  demands,  their  inefficiency  and 
their  expense  ;  nothing  has  yet  been  discovered  that 
can  at  all  compare  with  the  simple  use  of  wood 
charcoal. 

THE  FLUSHING  AND    CLEANSING  OF   SEWERS. 

It  is  an  important  condition  of  all  properly  con- 
structed sewers  that  they  should  be  kept  at  all  times 
entirely  free  from  sedimentary  deposit  and  from  the 
.idhesion  of  foul  and  slimy  matters  to  their  side 
walls.  Theoretically,  this  cleanly  condition  should 
be  absolute ;  practically,  we  must  endeavor  to  ap- 
proach as  near  to  it  as  possible. 

In  practice,  perfection  in  this  respect  is  rarely  to 
be  attained  throughout  the  whole  series  of  sewers 
of  a  town.  It  will  more  or  less  often  become  nec- 
essary to  resort  to  some  artificial  means  for  remov- 
ing sedimentary  deposits,  and  for  washing  the  walls 
of  sewers  which  have  become  coated  with  slime,  — 
the  deposition  of  which  is  one  of  the  evils  to  l>e 
guarded  against  on  the  score  of  health. 

If  from   imperfect   construction,  from  too  great 


166   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

size,  from  lack  of  flow,  or  from  any  other  cause,  the 
sewers  do  not  keep  themselves  clean  with  their  nat« 
ural  flow,  then  it  becomes  absolutely  necessary  that 
their  deposits  be  removed  either  by  hand  labor  or 
by  flushing  with  copious  floods  of  water.  The  less 
this  is  needed,  of  course  the  better,  but  if  needed  it 
is  quite  imperative. 

The  purpose  of  all  flushing  is  to  create  a  flow  of 
sufficient  depth  to  be  thoroughly  cleansing,  and  to 
keep  it  up  for  a  long  enough  time  to  wash  away  all 
accumulated  matters. 

For  small  sewers,  where  an  intermittent  sudden 
addition  of  a  few  cubic  feet  of  water  to  the  natural 
flow  would  be  sufficient  to  keep  the  line  clean,  a 
tumbler  tank  set  on  trunions  directly  in  the  line  of 
the  sewer  and  in  connection  with  the  man-hole  will 
be  useful.  The  accompanying  illustration  (Figure 
7)  of  such  an  apparatus  is  taken  from  Latham's 
"  Sanitary  Engineering,"  where  it  is  thus  described : 

"  When  empty,  this  tank  would  remain  level,  as 
the  portion  B  behind  the  trunion  is  heavier  than 
the  portion  A  before  the  trunion,  but  when  the 
tank  fills  with  water  or  sewage  the  portion  A  be- 
comes the  heaviest,  and  the  consequence  is  the  tank 
tilts,  discharging  its  contents  into  the  sewer  below, 
and  afterwards  righting  itself  ready  to  receive  a 
fresh  charge." 

The  tank  should  be  made  of  cast  iron,  and  its 
end,  as  it  falls  in  either  direction,  should  be  received 
an  wood,  rather  than  on  stone  or  metal. 

Special   flushing   appliances   are   frequently   re- 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.        167 

quired.  These  appliances  are  Dams  ;  Reservoirs  ; 
Tidal  Basins  ;  the  use  of  Street  Hydrants,  etc.  Each 
of  these  may  have  its  special  advantages  for  special 
circumstances. 

Dams  are  obstructions  placed  in  the  sewers  for 
holding  back  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  sewage 
coining  from  above  until  its  volume  shall  become 


Figure  7. 

sufficient  (on  the  removal  of  the  dam)  to  wash 
clean  all  that  part  of  the  line  lying  below  them. 
Dams  may  be  either  elaborate  cast  or  wrought  iron 
ippliances  (sometimes  with  gun-metal  facings)  or 
any  cheaper,  or  simpler  contrivance,  down  to  a 
simple  wooden  gate  to  be  raised  or  lowered  from 
vbe  mouth  of  a  man-hole.  The  dam  may  close  the 


168      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

sewer  entirely,  or  only  partially.  Where  the  grade 
is  slight  so  that  the  damming  back  of  the  water  to 
half  the  diameter  of  the  sewer  will  set  it  back  for  a 
long  distance,  giving  in  this  way  sufficient  volume, 
a  half-dam  will  suffice,  and  it  has  the  advantage, 
that  if  forgotten  or  neglected  the  flow  of  the  sewer 
will  not  be  totally  obstructed,  there  being  sufficient 


Figure  8. 


\v  ater  way  left  over  the  top  of  the  dam.  Where  it 
is  necessary  to  choke  the  flow  entirely  and  to  close 
the  whole  sewer  with  a  dam,  a  special  overflow  way 
should  be  provided,  in  order  that  if  this  dam  is  not 
-emoved  in  time,  there  can  still  be  an  escape  for  the 
Mjcumulation  from  above  to  avoid  the  danger  that 


ARRANGING  PLANS  FOR  TOWN  SEWERAGE.   169 

the  sewage  will  set  back  into  the  house  drains.  The 
modifications  of  the  system  of  damming  and  the 
variety  of  apparatus  for  preventing  the  set  back  of 
the  dammed  sewage  into  lateral  branches  or  house 
drains  are  so  various,  and  the  requirements  for  them 
differ  so  much  with  different  circumstances,  that  it 
is  hardly  worth  while  to  describe  them  minutely 
here. 

As  an  illustration  of  such  apparatus,  the  pipe 
sewer  dam  in  connection  with  man-holes,  shown  in 
Figure  8,  is  taken  from  Latham,  who  thus  describes 
its  action  :  — 

"  For  small  sewers  the  author  has  used  an  earth- 
en-ware flushing  block  which  is  built  into  the  head 
of  every  sewer  running  out  of  a  man-hole  as  shown 
at  A.  These  flushing  blocks  have  a  ground  face 
against  which  a  wooden  disk,  B,  is  placed.  The 
presence  of  the  water  tends  to  fix  the  disk  in  its 
position,  and  the  disk  is  connected  to  a  chain.  To 
guard  against  neglect,  the  float  c  is  fixed  on  the 
chain,  so  that  if  the  disk  is  left  fixed  in  the  sewer 
or  as  soon  as  the  man-hole  fills  with  sewage  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  float  begins  to  swim  by  its  power 
of  floatation,  it  liberates  the  wooden  disk  from  the 
mouth  of  the  sewer,  and  the  sewage  escapes  to  the 
lower  level." 

Reservoirs  are  frequently  useful  for  the  accumu- 
lation of  either  sewage  or  extraneous  water  in 
greater  or  less  quantities,  to  be  ultimately  set  free 
to  flood  the  sewers.  Frequently  the  water  of  a 
brook  or  a  storm  flow  may  be  used  to  supply  these 


170      SANITARY   DRAINAGE    OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

reservoirs,  —  which  have  the  advantage  that  theii 
contents  may  be  retained  for  any  desired  time,  and 
let  loose  whenever  flushing  is  most  required. 

Tidal  basins  (or  tidal  reservoirs)  are  receptaclea 
to  be  filled  by  the  high  tide,  and  let  loose  at  low 
tide,  and  are  chiefly  useful  at  the  upper  ends  of 
long  flat  grades  emptying  into  tide  water.  By 
their  means  even  absolutely  level  sewers  may  be 
kept  quite  clean  from  deposit. 

Street  hydrants  are  useful  for  large  sewers  when 
used  in  combination  with  dams  or  reservoirs,  and  for 
smaller  lateral  sewers  by  their  direct  flow. 

The  arrangement  of  these  flushing  appliances, 
one  or  more,  or  all  of  them  being  useful  according 
to  circumstances,  must  of  course  depend  upon  the 
conditions  obtaining  in  different  localities.  There 
are  few  towns  where  some  or  all  of  them  are  not 
needed  for  the  comparatively  satisfactory  working 
of  the  sewers. 

In  New  York,  in  1867,  the  cost  of  cleansing  about 
two  hundred  miles  of  pipe  sewers  was  only  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars. 

The  following  extract  from  a  statement  made  by 
the  engineer  for  the  construction  of  sewers  of  the 
city  of  New  York  (published  February  3,  1873), 
illustrates  the  comparative  foulness  of  brick  sewers 
and  pipe  sewers  :  — 

"  The  usual  price  of  cleaning  sewers  by  hand  is 
about  $2.50  per  load,  and  while  under  good  sewei 
system  solid  deposits  should  be  carried  off  with 
the  flow,  the  city  has  been  yearly  paying  fronc 


ARRANGING   PLANS   FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       171 

$27,000  to  $16,000  per  year  to  remove  them.  It 
is  notorious  that  persons  who,  under  the  old  Tt.n> 
many  regime^  had  contracts  for  cleaning  these  sew- 
ers, finding  it  profitable  to  remove  the  deposits  at 
$2.50  per  load,  were  in  the  habit  of  putting  ob- 
structions in  the  sewers  with  a  view  of  creating 
solid  deposits.  The  present  commissioner  of  public 
works  has,  however,  put  a  stop  to  all  this,  and  last 
year  reduced  the  cost  of  cleaning  the  sewers  to 
$14,412,  against  $44,690  for  the  year  1871.  The 
following  table,  furnished  by  Engineer  Towle, 
shows  the  comparative  cost  of  cleaning  brick  and 
pipe  sewers  from  1867  to  1871  inclusive.  The 
water  supply  having  increased  last  year,  the  de- 
partment has  resorted  to  the  flushing  process,  and 
two  or  three  nights  per  week  the  water  from  the 
hydrants  has  been  let  into  the  sewers,  reducing  the 
expense  of  cleaning  for  the  year  to  $14,000. 

Note  to  page  150.  —  By  the  use  of  Field's  Sewer  Flushing  Tank,  it  is 
no  longer  necessary  to  rely  on  rain-fall  for  this  work. 

Note  to  page  163.  —  More  recent  experience  has  clearly  shown  the 
advantage,  save  in  special  cases,  of  depending  exclusively  on  open  ven- 
tilation at  the  man-hole,  rather  than  to  obstruct  the  flow  of  air  by  the 
uterposition  of  charcoal  screen* 


172      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


- 


tion  of 
to  Pipe 


Total  Length 
in  City  in 
Linear  Feet. 


fc  "St 


222 
888 

i  I  i 

i  i  s 


2     2 
§    8 


ol       J. 


322 

8     8     § 


22 

S     § 


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g    g    8    S    S 


-      .  . 

S       CM  oo 

CM  00 

^-          CM  CM 


00         Ci         CO 
O         CN         t^ 

3    Sf 


C^          CO 
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§    3 


CO         00         « 

o    S     8 

co       cs       — 


«  s 

O         CM 


00          00 


!  ! 
j  •§ 

£      -2 


ill 


§    , 


.2     ~  g  £ 


ARRANGING  PLANS   FOR   TOWN  SEWERAGE.       173 

It  was  formerly  supposed  that  with  pipe  sewers 
Hot  too  large  for  the  amount  of  liquid  they  were  to 
carry,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  flushing,  and 
BO  far  as  sedimentary  deposits  are  concerned  this  is 
usually  true  ;  but  a  slimy  coating  often  forms  on 
the  wall  of  the  pipe  and  enters  into  decomposition, 
generating  objectionable  sewer  gases.  For  this  rea- 
son, all  pipes  used  for  house  drainage  only  should 
be  so  arranged  that  they  can  be  occasionally  flushed 
out  with  a  good  flow  of  fresh  water  ;  but  where  rain- 
fall is  admitted  from  roadways  and  from  the  roofs 
of  houses,  additional  flushing  will  not,  generally,  be 
needed,  except  during  epidemics,  or  in  dry,  hot  sea- 
sons. At  such  times  there  is  always  a  great  advan- 
tage in  frequent  flushing,  and  occasional  disinfection. 

In  flushing,  always  begin  with  the  lower  part  of 
the  system,  nearest  to  the  outlet,  and  work  back 
toward  the  heads  of  the  lines,  so  that  there  shall  be 
no  danger  that  deposit  already  existing  in  the  lower 
parts  will  stop  that  coming  from  above  in  such  a 
way  as  to  cause  the  complete  choking  of  the  channel. 

Hand  cleansing  is  to  be  avoided  whenever  possi- 
ble, and  the  circumstances  are  few  under  which  it 
is  necessary  to  construct  a  system  of  sewers  in  which 
this  costly  and  objectionable  process  will  be  re- 
quired. It  is  now  and  then  inevitable. 

STREET   GULLIES. 

So  far  as  it  is  a  part  of  the  plan  to  take  surface 
rain-water  into  the  sewers,  proper  openings  must  be 
made  at  street  corners^  or  elsewhere,  according  to  the 


174      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   ASD   TOWNS. 


rapidity  of  the  inclination  of  the  gutter,  the  location 
of  the  lowest  point  of  the  grade,  the  extent  of  sur- 
face to  be  drained,  the  frequency  with  which  it  is  de- 
sirable to  establish  flushing  points,  and  other  consid- 
erations which  may  arise  under  certain  circumstances. 
These  street  openings  should  not  be  used  as  sewer 
ventilators,  that  is  to  say,  that  they  should  be  well 
trapped  in  order  to  prevent  the  air  of  the  sewer  from 
escaping  at  the  side  of  the  foot-way.  In  addition 
to  their  trapping  they  should  be  provided  with  some 
form  of  receptacle  for  the  arresting  of  the  sand  and 
other  heavy  detritus  washed  from  the  roadway. 
Various  devices  have  been  adopted  to  secure  the 

admission  of  sur- 
face water  from 
gutters  to  the  sew- 
er without  allow- 
ing the  escape  of 
sewer  gas.  These 
are  usually  ar- 
ranged with  a 
deep  recess  below 
the  outlet  for  the 
accumulation  of 
sand  and  silt 
washed  from  the 
roadway,  and  with 

Figure  9.  —  Catch-basin  for  admitting        S  O  m  6       form      of 

Btreetwash.  water  trap.  Their 

construction   in   our  northern  climate  should  have 
careful  reference  to  a  severe  act' on  of  the  frost,  and 


ARRANGING  PLANS  FOR  TOWN   SEWERAGE.       175 


no  plan  that  has  come  under  my  notice  seems  so 
well  adapted  for  this  as  one  used  by  Mr.  J.  Herbert 
Shedd,  the  engineer  of  the  sewerage  in  the  city  of 
Providence,  the  arrangement  of  which  is  shown  in 
the  accompanying  diagrams.  The  trap  for  sealing 


Figure   10.  —  Side  view  of 
catcu-basiu  trap. 


Figure  11.  —  Top  view  of 
catch-basin  trap. 


the  outlet  is  made  of  cast-iron,  hinged  with  a  copper 
bolt.  It  is  firmly  attached  to  the  side  of  the  basin 
with  cement,  and,  if  disturbed  by  frost,  is  simply 
torn  loose  from  the  brick-work,  and  can  be  easily 
cemented  to  its  place  in  the  spring. 

MAN-HOLES  AND  LAMP-HOLES. 
All  sewers  should  be  provided  with  man-holes  for 
ventilation  and  for  service  during  examination ;  and 
pipe  drains  should  have,  between  the  man-holes,  and 
at  every  point  where  the  vertical  or  horizontal  direc- 
tion of  the  sewer  is  changed,  lamp-holes,  at  the  bot- 


176      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

torn  of  which  lanterns  may  be  suspended  which  will 
enable  the  line  to  be  examined  from  the  nearest 
man-hole.  The  removal  of  all  such  obstructions  ac- 
cumulating in  pipe  drains  as  cannot  be  washed  out 
by  flushing  is  effected  by  various  instruments  at- 
tached to  jointed  rods,  like  chimney-sweep  tools, 
which  serve  as  handles,  enabling  them  to  be  used 
even  at  a  distance  of  several  hundred  feet. 

The  man-hole  is  a  shaft  or  chimney  built  up  from 
the  sewer  to  the  surface  of  the  street,  having  an 
opening  large  enough  for  men  to  enter  for  work 
and  some  provision  for  steps  to  enable  them  to  de- 
scend easily. 

Lamp-holes  are  smaller  shafts  which  may  be  fur- 
nished with  vitrified  pipe  reaching  to  the  surface  of 
the  street,  with  an  opening  sufficiently  large  to  al- 
low a  lantern  to  be  lowered  into  the  sewer.  As  all 
sewers  should  be  straight  (vertically  and  laterally), 
between  all  man-holes  and  lamp-holes  (except  in 
rounding  corners),  by  sighting  from  a  man-hole  to 
a  lamp-hole,  the  workman  can  easily  determine 
whether  the  sewer  is  obstructed  or  free. 

Man-holes  and  lamp-holes  are  generally  covered 
nrith  tight  cast-iron  caps,  but  it  would  be  better  in 
all  cases  to  substitute  for  these  strong  iron  gratings 
with  the  largest  possible  air  spaces,  the  cover  being 
raised  very  slightly  above  the  grade  of  the  street  in 
order  that  there  shall  be  no  surface  flow  into  it. 
And,  even  when  this  is  done,  it  is  often  advisable  to 
make  a  recess  or  catch-pit  in  the  bottom  of  the 
sewer  under  the  man-hole,  to  retain  any  earth 


ARRANGING   PLANS  FOR   TOWN   SEWERAGE.       177 

entering  through  the  grating.  The  advantage  of 
the  grating  over  the  close  cover  is,  that  it  gives  the 
best  means  of  ventilating  the  sewer  that  has  yet 
been  devised. 

PRIVATE   DRAINS. 

The  public  sewer  or  drain  may  properly  afford 
an  outlet  to  the  land  drainage  of  private  property, 
but  before  reaching  the  public  drain,  this  should 
pass  through  at  least  two  rods  of  sub-main  drain 
laid  under  the  direction  of  the  public  engineer,  and 
trapped  as  he  may  direct  for  the  exclusion  of  silt  or 
refuse.  This  sub-main  should  deliver  its  water  into 
the  public  drain  as  nearly  as  possible  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  flow  of  the  latter,  so  that  the  streams 
may  run  together  without  confusion,  and  the  dan- 
ger from  eddies  be  obviated.  Drains  from  houses 
and  all  private  establishments  should  be  connected 
with  the  sewer  under  similar  official  regulation,  and 
should  enter  at  sufficient  height  to  act  as  ventilators 
of  the  sewer,  —  their  own  ventilation  being  aided 
by  this  means  for  the  entrance  of  air  from  below. 

SEWER  JUNCTIONS. 

The  character  of  the  junctions  of  main  and  tribu- 
tary sewers  has  much  influence  on  their  capacity. 
It  has  been  found  that  when  equal  quantities  of 
water  were  running  in  two  sewers,  each  in  a  direct 
line,  at  a  rate  of  ninety  seconds,  if  their  junction 
was  at  right  angles  their  discharge  was  effected 
only  in  one  hundred  and  forty  seconds,  while  if  it 


178   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

met  with  a  gentle  curve,  the  discharge  was  effected 
in  one  hundred  seconds. 

In  one  recorded  instance,  a  pipe,  having  been 
gorged  by  reason  of  a  right-angled  junction,  which 
kept  the  velocity  of  its  flow  down  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  feet  per  minute,  had  its  flow  in- 
creased to  two  hundred  and  eight  feet  per  minute, 
and  the  difficulty  entirely  removed  by  making  the 
junction  on  a  curve  of  sixty  feet  radius.  The  same 
objection  holds  with  right-angled  junctions  falling 
vertically  into  the  sewer.  In  this  case,  as  in  the 
other,  the  inlet  should  be  on  a  curved  line  ;  but  ver- 
tical junctions  are  usually  objectionable. 

Frequent  junctions  are  of  great  advantage.  Ex- 
periment has  shown  that,  with  a  pipe  having  a  fall 
of  one  in  sixty,  its  capacity,  with  junctions  at  fre- 
quent intervals,  is  more  than  three  times  what  it 
would  be  if  flowing  only  from  a  full  head  at  the  up- 
per end  of  the  pipe.  In  sewers  of  larger  sizes  the 
capacity  is  increased  more  than  eight  times. 

TIDE  VALVES. 

In  all  cases  where  the  outlet  of  the  sewer  is  the 
level  of  tide  water,  it  is  considered  desirable  to  es- 
tablish some  form  of  valve  or  dam  which  shall  pre- 
vent the  tide  from  setting  back  into  the  sewer. 

For  large  sewers,  the  most  available  form  of  tide 
gate  seems  to  be  that  used  in  the  case  of  canal 
locks,  —  two  gates  swinging  together  by  the  pressure 
from  without,  and  holding  back  the  rising  waters ; 
apening  as  soon  as  these  waters  recede  below  the 


ARRANGING  PLANS  FOR  TOWN   SEWERAGE.        179 

level  of  the  sewage  within.  All  discharging  of  sew- 
age below  the  level  of  high  water  is  to  be  avoided 
whenever  possible,  unless  for  the  removal  of  storm 
waters ;  for  although  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide 
in  a  sewer  suffices  to  keep  the  part  thus  traversed 
clean,  there  is  usually  a  sedimentary  accumulation 
about  the  point  reached  by  the  top  of  the  tide 
water  flow.  So  far  as  the  ordinary  house  sewage  is 
concerned,  it  should,  even  if  pumping  is  necessary, 
be  kept  constantly  in  motion,  except  in  those  casea 
where  it  is  desired  to  store  it  temporarily  for  flush- 
ing purposes. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE   CONSTRUCTION  OP  SEWERS. 

IN  a  work  not  intended  for  the  practical  guidance 
of  engineers,  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  very  much  on 
this  head  beyond  what  is  contained  in  the  preceding 
chapters.  In  determining  the  size  of  sewers  needed 
for  the  area  to  be  drained,  —  making  allowance  for 
the  inclination  or  steepness  of  the  grade  on  which 
the  line  is  to  be  made,  and  for  the  proportion  exist- 
ing between  the  regular  flow  of  sewage  and  the 
amount  of  storm  water  that  it  will  be  necessary  to 
provide  for,  —  the  considerations  heretofore  set  forth, 
will  be  a  sufficient  guide  to  any  engineer  qualified 
to  take  the  direction  of  such  work.  To  give  all  the 
necessary  details  required  for  the  instruction  of  a 
novice  would  be  far  beyond  the  scope  of  this  work, 
nor  would  it  be  possible  here  to  qualify  amateurs, 
and  sewer  authorities  who  lack  professional  expe- 
rience, to  take  the  direction  of  the  work  into  their 
own  hands. 

My  chief  purpose  being  to  show  to  the  private 
citizen  or  to  the  average  chairman  of  a  committee 
of  aldermen,  or  supervisors,  what  are  the  essen 
tial  requirements  of  good  sewers  and  what  they 
•nust  demand  in  order  to  secure  the  best  conditions 


THE    CONSTRUCTION    OF   SEWERS.  181 

of  health,  rather  than  to  instruct  them  how  to  carry 
out  the  technical  work  of  construction,  it  is  not  nec- 
essary to  say  more  in  this  chapter  than  is  needed  tc 
call  the  attention  of  such  persons  to  matters  which 
are  not  always  sufficiently  regarded  by  the  class  of 
engineers  who  are  employed  for  local  works  of  sew- 
erage. 

The  most  essential  condition  to  be  sought  in  all 
work  of  this  class  is  the  utmost  possible  thoroughness. 
Without  wishing  in  any  way  to  reflect  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  management  of  sewer  construction  in 
the  country  generally,  and  having  no  doubt  that 
there  are  many  engineers  who  manage  the  details 
of  their  work  with  equal  care,  I  would  seriously 
advise  the  authorities  of  any  town  where  the  organ- 
ization of  a  complete  system  of  sewerage  is  contem- 
plated, to  visit  the  works  now  being  carried  on  in 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  under  the  very  thorough 
management  of  Mr.  J.  Herbert  Shedd.  One  may 
learn  here,  better  than  in  any  other  place  with  which 
I  am  familiar,  the  real  meaning  of  the  word  "  thor- 
oughness "  as  applied  to  sewer  construction. 

The  city  supplies  all  the  material  used,  selling 
these  at  established  rates  to  the  contractors,  and  it 
then  devotes  the  energies  of  competent  inspectors  to 
securing  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection  that  is 
possible  in  every  branch  of  the  supply  department. 
All  cement  bought  is  subject  to  the  condition  that, 
after  having  been  properly  mixed  with  as  little 
water  as  practicable  and  exposed  half  an  hour  to 
the  air  and  then  immersed  twenty-four  houra  in 


182      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

water,  it  shall  stand  a  traction  strain  of  sixty  pounds 
to  the  square  inch.  Every  barrel  received  at  the 
dock  is  numbered,  sampled,  and  tested,  and  not  one 
is  allowed  to  be  used  which  breaks  with  less  than 
this  strain.  Every  barrel  not  coming  fully  up  to 
the  standard  is  thrown  on  the  hands  of  the  parties 
supplying  it.  Sewer  pipes  are  required  to  be  of  the 
requisite  thickness  and  hardness,  and  practically  true 
in  form  ;  if  pipes  are  delivered  which  are  defective 
in  any  one  of  these  respects,  they  are  rejected.  All 
bricks  bought  are  to  have  a  certain  high  average  of 
quality  and  form,  and  to  contain  a  due  proportion 
of  extra  hard  specimens,  and  none  too  soft  for  the 
best  work.  If  the  lot  is  defective,  when  measured 
by  this  standard,  the  manufacturer  must  seek 
another  market  for  them.  Accepted  lots  of  brick 
are  sorted  into  different  qualities  according  to  form 
and  hardness,  the  very  hardest  being  used  for  the 
bottom  of  the  sewer  where  the  greatest  friction  is 
to  be  resisted,  and  the  less  hard  ones  (none  approach 
softness)  for  the  upper  parts  of  the  work.  Mr. 
Shedd  frequently  uses  tubular  inverts  made  of 
earthen- ware  like  sewer  pipes.  A  chief  objection 
generally  urged  against  these  is  that  their  form  is 
so  much  affected  by  warping  in  manufacture  that 
they  do  not  constitute  a  good  foundation  for  true 
brick  work,  but  at  the  Providence  depot  only  the 
really  perfect  ones  are  accepted.  And  it  is  no  doubt 
very  often  from  what  has  been  rejected  there  that 
flie  usual  supply  of  the  market  has  to  be  drawn. 
It  is  undoubtedly,  to  a  certain  extent,  to  the  di» 


THE   CONSTRUCTION   OF   SEWERS.  188 

advantage  of  other  places  that  the  Providence  re- 
jections are  so  copious,  for  what  is  there  discarded 
is  not  wasted,  —  only  sold  to  those  who  are  less  par- 
ticular. But  it  would  be  decidedly  to  the  advantage 
of  any  town  undertaking  works  of  this  sort  to  place 
themselves  at  once  in  the  category  of  those  who  in- 
sist on  having  the  very  best  material  or  none. 

I  have  heard  contractors  who  are  accustomed  to 
the  slap-dash  manner  of  sewer  building,  that  pre- 
vails over  the  country  generally,  complain  bitterly 
that  the  Providence  engineers  and  inspectors  are  so 
rigid  concerning  every  detail  of  the  work  that  a 
contract  undertaken  there  is  very  apt  not  to  be 
profitable.  At  the  same  time  there  seems  to  be  no 
lack  of  contractors,  who  are  willing  to  do  the  work 
of  this  city  in  the  manner  demanded  of  them,  and 
the  result  has  been  no  doubt  as  nearly  perfect  as 
any  sewage  work  in  this  country. 

While  much  of  the  quality  of  any  public  work  is 
due  to  the  chief  engineer  having  it  in  charge,  and 
to  the  regulations  that  he  establishes  for  securing 
good  material  and  good  workmanship,  an  even 
more  important  duty  falls  upon  the  inspectors,  for 
it  is  they  who  are  to  watch  the  quality  of  every  item 
of  the  material  and  the  character  of  every  foot  of 
the  work.  However  good  the  regulations  which 
they  are  charged  with  carrying  out,  these  regula- 
tions will  be  of  but  little  value  unless  the  carrying 
out  is  thorough  and  conscientious,  and  is  entirely 
uninfluenced  by  the  seductive  efforts  of  contractors 
o  secure  their  neglect  of  duty  or  obliquity  of  vision 


184   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

As  the  weakest  link  of  a  chain  is  the  measure  of 
its  strength,  so  is  the  weakest  part  of  a  drain  or 
sewer  the  measure  of  its  permanent  usefulness.  It 
does  not  suffice  that  the  work  is  on  the  whole  good 
and  reliable,  —  it  must  be  good  and  reliable  in  every 
part. 

Many  pages  might  be  written  concerning  the  do- 
tails  of  the  art  of  sewer  making,  but  I  propose  to 
leave  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  subject  to  the 
technical  works  in  which  it  has  already  been  so  well 
treated  —  except  to  say  that  there  is  in  this  country 
a  quite  universal  tendency  to  excessive  expenditure 
in  the  thickness  of  the  walls  of  sewers.  When  the 
brick  and  cement  are  of  good  quality,  and  when  a 
proper  natural,  or  artificial  foundation  is  secured,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  make  the  wall  thicker  than  one 
ninth  of  the  interior  diameter  of  the  sewer,  or  as 
nearly  this  as  the  thickness  of  the  material  will 
allow.  A  single  course  of  brick  (four  inches)  is 
ample  for  the  wall  of  a  three  foot  sewer,  but  if  the 
sewer  is  made  larger  than  this,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  increase  the  thickness  to  eight  inches  up  to  a 
diameter  of  six  feet,  and  to  add  another  course  of 
brick  if  the  sewer  is  larger  than  six  feet. 

The  main  sewer  in  Saratoga,  nearly  two  miles 
long,  and  traversing  ground  of  very  varying  quality, 
has  a  uniform  diameter  of  three  feet,  and  is  made 
throughout  its  whole  length  (except  at  one  point 
where  unusual  pressure  may,  under  certain  circum- 
stances arise),  only  four  inches  thick.  An  inspec- 
"ion  made  after  the  completion  of  the  work  show» 


THE   CONSTRUCTION   OF  SEWERS.  185 

an  absolute  continuity  of  wall  and  regularity  01 
form,  save  in  one  short  stretch  where,  from  the  con- 
tractor's neglect  of  properly  sheet-piling  quicksand, 
there  is  a  slight  deflection,  not  enough,  however, 
to  require  the  re-laying  of  the  sewer. 

All  who  are  interested  in  the  control  of  sewage 
works  should  adopt  it  as  their  leading  principle  to 
secure  a  well  considered  and  suitable  plan ;  to  in- 
trust its  execution  to  a  conscientious  and  competent 
local  engineer ;  and  to  secure  inspectors  who  will 
make  it  practically  certain  that  every  department 
shall  be  thoroughly  and  faithfully  executed,  in  spite 
of  the  skillful  efforts  of  old  contractors  to  secure  an 
opportunity  to  "  scamp  "  their  work. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE   DETAILS   OF   HOUSE  DRAINING. 

THE  various  items  of  the  work  of  draining  the 
house  concern  both  the  architect  and  the  engineer. 
The  latter,  in  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  admission 
into  the  public  works  of  sewerage  of  the  liquid  ref- 
use of  the  house,  and  the  making  of  the  necessary 
provisions  to  prevent  any  injury  being  done  to  the 
public  interest  by  reason  of  careless  or  improper 
connection  or  the  admission  of  improper  substances , 
the  former  from  the  still  more  important  considera- 
tions connected  with  the  proper  arrangement  of  the 
house  as  a  domicile  for  human  beings. 

The  architect  should  concern  himself  especially 
with  all  that  relates  to  disposition  of  the  necessary 
wastes  and  offscourings  of  domestic  life.  Whether 
it  be  a  question  only  of  disposing  of  the  kitchen 
wastes  or  whether  the  most  complete  plumbing  ap- 
pliances are  to  be  introduced,  every  part  of  the 
work  should  be  so  planned  as  to  accomplish  his  pur- 
pose completely,  entirely,  and  permanently,  with 
due  precaution  against  the  entailing  upon  the  occu- 
pants of  the  house  of  the  evil  results  that  a  badly 
arranged  system  will  be  sure  to  produce. 

It  would  be  impossible  in  the  short  space  of  this 


THE   DETAILS  OF   HOUSE   DRAINING.  187 

3hapter  to  give  in  detail  all  that  may  be  needed  un- 
der the  great  variety  of  circumstances  arising  in  a 
varied  practice.  All  that  can  be  hoped,  is  so  to  set 
forth  the  general  principles  by  -which  the  work 
should  be  guided,  the  specification  of  what  is  to  be 
avoided,  and  some  of  the  more  usual  processes 
which  are  to  be  recommended,  as  to  enable  the  per- 
son having  charge  of  the  building  to  apply  his  own 
judgment  and  discretion  in  the  matter  in  such  a 
way  as  to  secure  the  most  satisfactory  end.  Much 
of  what  is  contained  in  the  first  three  chapters  of 
this  work  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  details  of 
house  drainage  and  whatever  is  here  said  is  to  be 
read  in  the  light  of  the  information  therein  given. 

PLUMBING  ARRANGEMENTS,  ETC. 

The  accompanying  diagram  shows  the  simplest 
form  in  which  the  plumbing  and  draining  of  a 
house  can  be  arranged  to  render  it  absolutely  safe. 
An  important  feature  of  the  plan  here  shown  is 
that  of  providing  a  separate  reservoir  of  water  for 
the  supply  of  each  water-closet ;  this,  though  not 
unusual,  is  far  from  universal,  and  it  is  the  only 
efficient  means  for  preventing  the  tainting  of  the 
main  water-supply  pipe  of  the  house  with  the  gases 
formed  in  the  basins,  and  the  sucking  into  the  main 
>f  the  foul  air  above  the  trap  when  the  water  falls 
away  in  the  pipes,  as  from  the  opening  of  cocks  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  house. 

Referring  to  the  diagram  (Figure  12),  which  shows 
the  general  arrangement  of  plumbing,  etc.,  it  is  to  be 


See  reference  to  this  cut  in  Chapter  XII.    The 
irrangement  here  eiven  is  manifestly  bad. 


Figure  12. 


THE   DETAILS   OF   HOUSE   DRAINING.  189 

eaid  that  from  a  sanitary  point  of  view  the  most  im- 
portant feature  there  shown  is  a  complete  ventila- 
tion of  the  drain  leading  to  the  sewer,  so  that  by 
no  possibility  can  there  be  a  forcing  back  into  tho 
house  of  gases  formed  in  the  sewer  or  in  the  main 
drain.  As  already  stated,  a  usual  water  trap,  no 
matter  how  deep,  does  not  suffice  to  secure  this.  A 
water  trap  having  a  bend  of  even  two  feet  would 
resist  a  pressure  of  only  about  one  pound  to  the 
square  inch,  while  the  sudden  filling  of  the  sewer, 
by  rising  tide  or  falling  rain,  to  such  an  extent  aa 
to  reduce  its  air  space  one  half,  would  bring  to  bear 
a  pressure  of  fifteen  pounds  to  the  square  inch ; 
and  whether  the  filling  be  sudden  or  gradual,  the 
degree  to  which  the  increased  pressure  would  affect 
any  given  outlet  would  depend  on  the  facilities  of- 
fered elsewhere  for  the  air  to  find  vent.  In  our 
ordinary  town  sewerage  works,  it  is  never  safe  for 
the  householder  to  depend  on  other  vents  than  his 
own  connecting  drain  being  available ;  he  must  in 
self-defense  assume  that  his  own  drain  is  the  only 
channel  of  escape,  and  make  it  impossible  that  air 
escaping  there  should  find  its  way  into  the  house. 

Where  severe  frosts  are  not  to  be  guarded 
against,  this  may  be  accomplished  by  discharging 
the  water  of  the  house  into  a  receptable  that  is 
open  at  its  surface,  and  from  which  a  drain  passes 
to  the  sewer  with  some  form  of  trap  ;  into  this  sur- 
face opening,  for  greater  cleanliness,  a  rain-water 
pipe  from  the  roof  should  discharge.  Under  thia 
arrangement,  if  sewer  gas  is  forced  from  the  drain 


190   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

it  will  escape  into  the  outer  air.  The  chief  objec- 
tion to  the  plan  lies  in  the  fact  that  such  escapo 
would  too  often  take  place  where  it  would  be  offen 
give,  and  sometimes  too  near  an  important  window 
A  much  better  plan  is  to  furnish  a  fresh-air  inlet 
at  the  lower  end  of  the  soil  pipe  or  house  drain 
which  will  supply  a  purifying  current  of  air  through 
the  whole  length  of  the  soil  pipe.  Some  form  of 
aDvered  grease-trap,  or  flush-tank  may  be  used,  with 
a  ventilator  not  less  than  two  inches  in  diameter, 
and  by  the  straightest  available  course,  from  this 
to  a  point  well  above  the  highest  dormer  windows. 
An  opening  should  be  made  for  fresh  air  in  the 
cover  of  the  grease-trap. 

WATER-CLOSETS. 

Dr.  Simon,  in  his  report  of  1874,  states  the  fol- 
lowing as  imperative  conditions  that  should  be  in- 
sisted on  wherever  water-closets  are  allowed  :  — 

"1.  That  the  closets  will  universally  receive  an 
unfailing  sufficiency  of  water  properly  supplied  to 
them. 

"  2.  That  the  comparatively  large  volume  of  sew- 
erage that  the  system  produces  can  be  in  all  re- 
spects satisfactorily  disposed  of. 

"  3.  That  on  all  premises  which  the  system  brings 
into  connection  with  the  common  sewers,  the  con- 
struction and  keeping  of  the  closets  and  other  drain- 
age relations  will  be  subject  to  skilled  direction  and 
pontrol." 

In  his  explanatory  remarks  he  states  :  That  a  suf 


THE  DETAILS   OF  HOUSE   DRAINING.  19] 

ficient  supply  of  water  is  a  supply  that  will  enable 
each  closet  to  be  well  flushed  whenever  used,  and 
that  the  supply  must  be  not  only  professedly,  but 
actually  constant.  The  best  way  to  secure  this  is 
to  supply  to  each  closet  from  an  independent  cistern 
immediately  above  it.  That  every  privy  drain  must 
be  properly  trapped  and  ventilated,  and  properly 
constructed,  —  ventilation  of  the  soil  pipe  above  the 
roof  being  imperative.  That  wherever  practicable 
the  connection  between  the  house'  drain  and  the 
sewer  should  be  through  a  trapped,  open  gully  cov- 
ered with  a  grating.  He  considers  the  ordinary 
water-closet  thoroughly  unreliable  for  those  who  are 
unlikely  to  take  proper  care  of  it,  or  who  are  too 
poor  to  keep  it  in  repair,  —  no  form  of  indoor  privy 
should  be  allowed  for  this  class,  and  even  in  the  best 
houses  water-closets  should  never  be  so  placed  that 
they  cannot  have  outside  windows. 

For  classes  from  whom  the  ordinary  water-closet 
should  be  withheld,  some  suitable  form  of  water- 
closet  specially  constructed  for  them,  and  constantly 
superintended  by  the  public  authorities,  seems  to  be 
under  the  proper  circumstances  the  best  convenience 
yet  devised. 

The  water-closet  should  never  be  supplied  direct 
from  the  water  main,  but  always  from  a  separate 
reservoir,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  danger  of  the 
sucking  back  of  the  contents  of  the  pan  when  the 
water  falls,  as  it  so  frequently  does,  from  the  supply 
pipes. 

Dr  Hill,  the  medical  officer  of  health  for  Bir 


192      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

minghain,  in  a  paper  on  sanitary  improvements  says 
"  What  I  wish  to  bring  out  prominently  is,  that 
water-closets  being  in  direct  communication  with 
the  sewers,  which  they  imperfectly  close  when  the 
valve  is  at  rest,  and  actually  open  when  it  is  in 
action,  and  being  placed  in  the  interior  of  houses, 
must  inevitably  be  the  means  of  introducing  poi- 
sonous sewer-gas  into  dwellings,  and  so  act  as  a 
source  of  danger  and  injury.  The  question  then, 
arises,  how  are  their  ill-effects  to  be  guarded  against  ? 
I  think  best  in  one  of  two  ways  (traps,  it  is  admit- 
ted, are  such  in  more  senses  than  one,  and  are  use- 
less) ;  either  by  having  them  quite  detached  from 
the  house,  or  partially  so  by  double  doors  and  inter- 
vening lobby,  with  good  cross  ventilation." 

Dr.  De  Chaumont  says,  "  Under  no  circumstances 
ought  there  to  be  a  closet  opening  directly  into  a 
bedroom,  the  merely  occasional  convenience  of  such 
an  arrangement  being  more  than  counterbalanced 
by  its  danger  and  generally  objectionable  situation. 
In  some  houses,  however,  particularly  in  older  houses 
in  towns,  I  have  seen  this  arrangement,  not  only 
in  single  instances,  but  in  all  the  closets  of  the 
house,  so  that  access  to  one  was  only  obtainable 
through  a  bed-room.  Almost  equally  objectionable 
is  the  arrangement  where  the  closet  opens  on  to  the 
lobby  or  landing  close  to  the  bedrooms  or  sitting- 
looms,  a  plan  both  unhealthy  and  in  every  way  of- 
fensive." 

The  usual  "pan"  closet  is  in  several  ways  ob. 
jectionable;  chiefly  as  containing  in  the  chambei 


THE  DETAILS   OF   HOUSE   DRAINING. 


193 


beneath  the  pan  a  certain  quantity  of  fouled  watei 
above  which  is  an  unventilated  air  space,  sometimes, 
from  imperfect  construction,  leaking  its  gases  into 
the  room,  and  always  sending  up  a  foetid  whi# 
when  the  pan  is  tipped. 

The  Jennings  closet,  shown  herewith  (Figure  13) 
has  the  peculiarity  that 
it  contains  directly  un- 
der the  seat  the  whole 
charge  of  water  to  be 
used  for  the  flushing  at 
each  operation  of  the 
closet.  Faecal  matters 
are  immediately  im- 
mersed and  so  at  once 
somewhat  disinfected, 
and  on  the  lifting  of  the 
valve  the  whole  volume 
is  rapidly  carried  away 
through  the  water  trap 
into  the  soil  pipe.  The 
whole  apparatus,  from 
the  seat  to  the  soil  pipe, 
is  a  single  piece  of 
earthen-ware,  and  the 
valve  is  held  so  firmly 
in  its  place  by  its  own 
weight  and  by  that  of  Often. 

the  water  bearing  upon  Figure  13> 

it,  that  if  proper  vent  is  given  to  the  soil  pipe  itself 
•o  that  the  pressure  of  sewei  air  cannot  be  brought 


194   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

to  bear  upon  it,  and  so  that  its  trap  cannot  be  si- 
phoned o.it,  there  is  no  probability  of  the  least  es- 
cape into  the  room.  If  the  soil  pipe  is  not  venti- 
lated, the  Jennings  closet  is  the  worst  of  all.  In 
any  case  it  should  always  be  supplied  with  some 
arrangement  like  Blunt's  siphon-overflow  cap.  (See 
chapter  XII.) 

SOIL-PIPE   VENTILATORS. 

As  is  sufficiently  explained  in  other  sections  of 
this  book,  the  cardinal  remedy  for  the  sanitary  evils 
arising  from  the  invasion  of  houses  by  the  poisonous 
gases  of  sewers  and  drains,  lies  in  the  thorough  ven- 
tilation of  soil  pipes  by  pipes  opening  through  the 
roof  into  the  free  air. 

Such  ventilating  pipes  should  be  made  of  some 
permanent  material.  Earthen- ware  is  objectionable, 
lead  and  cast-iron  are  good  and  reasonably  durable. 
Zinc  —  and  consequently  the  zinc  coating  of  galvan- 
ized iron  —  is  very  subject  to  decay  under  the  action 
of  the  corrosive  gases  issuing  from  soil  pipes.  When 
galvanized  iron  pipes  are  used,  they  should  be 
thickly  coated  with  paint  on  their  insides.  If  a 
free  current  of  air  passes  constantly  through  such 
a  pipe,  —  taken  in  from  an  opening  in  the  waste 
pipe  or  catch  basin  outside  of  the  house,  and  dis- 
charged above  the  roof  by  a  large  pipe,  —  the  for- 
mation of  corrosive  gases  will  be  much  reduced. 
In  northern  latitudes  the  effect  of  frost  must  be 
guarded  against. 

It  is  especially  important  that  soil  pipe  ventila- 
tors should  be  as  nearly  straight  and  vertical  as  pos- 


THE   DETAILS   OF  HOUSE  DRAINING.  195 

sible  ;  a  crooked  ventilator  pipe  will  not  "  draw  " 
any  more  than  will  a  badly  built  chimney  flue,  nor 
even  so  well,  as  it  lacks  the  heat  of  a  fire  to  set  up 


a  current. 


GKEASB  TEAPS. 


There  are  various  forms  of  grease  trap  which 
serve  a  good  and  useful  purpose.  The  best  that  has 
come  to  my  no- 
tice is  that  shown 
in  the  accompa- 
nying diagram. 

It  is  made  of 
well-cemented 
brick-work,  and 
need  not  be  more 
than  from  four  to 
six  feet  in  diame- 
ter (according  to 
the  liberality 
with  which  water 
is  to  be  used  in  the 
house.  It  must 
be  absolutely  wa- 
ter-tight. It  should  be  placed  close  to  the  house,  so 
that  there  shall  be  the  least  practicable  length  of 
drain  pipe  to  accumulate  grease,  —  allowing  it  to 
flow  hot  into  the  trap,  where  it  will  float  at  the  sur- 
face of  the  liquid,  at  a  point  at  least  a  foot  above 
the  mouth  of  the  bent  outlet  pipe.  Any  solid  ref- 
use will  have  ample  room  at  the  bottom  of  the  trap, 


196   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

well  below  the  outlet.  I  have  not  found  it  neces- 
sary to  clean  out  my  trap  (made  in  this  way)  more 
often  than  once  a  year.  Indeed,  the  solid  deposit, 
being  organic  matter,  decomposes  and  forms  ammo- 
nia, which  helps  to  dissolve  the  grease  and  make  it 
soluble,  so  that  both  the  deposit  and  the  scum  are 
constantly  being  washed  away.  It  would  be  well 
to  run  a  rain-water  spout  into  this  trap  to  help 
cleanse  it,  and  if  it  is  not  near  a  window,  its  best, 
ventilation  would  be  by  a  grating  in  its  top-stone. 

THE  DISPOSAL   OF  HOUSE  SLOPS. 

Obviously,  no  form  of  grease  trap  or  tight  cess- 
pool can  serve  for  the  final  disposal  of  house  slops. 
It  is  only  an  intermediary  step  in  a  process  whose 
further  course  it  is  very  important  to  direct.  The 
treatment  of  this  matter  has  been  so  successful  at 
my  own  house,  that  the  system  there  in  use  seems 
worth  describing  in  this  connection. 

The  house  drainage  is  discharged  into  a  tightly 
cemented  tank  four  feet  deep  and  four  feet  in  diam- 
eter, entering  near  its  top,  which  is  arched  over 
and  closed  by  a  tightly  fitting  stone  cap,  and  thor- 
oughly ventilated.  This  tank  is  similar  to  that 
described  above.  Its  outlet  pipe,  starting  from  a 
point  one  foot  below  the  surface  of  the  water  and 
about  two  feet  below  the  cap-stone,  passes  out  near 
the  surface  of  the  ground  and  is  continued  by  a 
cemented  vitrified  pipe  to  a  point  about  twenty-five 
feet  farther  away.  Here  it  connects  with  a  system 
of  open -jointed  drain  tiles,  consisting  of  one  main 


THE  DETAILS   OF   HOUSE  DRAINING. 


197 


fifty  feet  long,  and  ten  lateral  drains  six  feet 
apart  and  each  about  twenty  feet  long.  These 
drains  underlie  a  part  of  the  lawn,  and  are  only 
about  ten  inches  below  the  surface.  During  the 
whole  growing  season  their  course  is  very  distinctly 
marked  by  the  rank  growth  of  grass  over  and  near 


A.  Cemented  tank. 

B.  Outflow  drain,  tight. 

C.  Distributing  box. 

D.  Open  jointed  drains,  10  inches  deep.    Main  line 

60  feet  long,  laterals  20  feet  long  each.    Total 
length  of  open  jointed  drain,  260  feet. 


Figure  15. 

to  them,  the  difference  of  growth  in  their  imme- 
diate vicinity  being  so  great  that  were  the  work 
to  be  done  over  again,  I  should  place  the  lines 
but  three  feet  apart.  The  slope  of  the  ground  is 
very  slight,  probably  not  more  than  fifteen  inches 
lietween  the  extreme  ends  of  the  system,  yet,  judg- 


198      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

ing  by  the  growth,  the  distribution  is  very  uniform 
through  all  the  pipes,  —  main  and  laterals. 

The  arrangement  of  these  drains  is  shown  in 
Figure  15,  an  arrangement  suited  to  the  condi- 
tions of  the  place,  but  sufficiently  illustrating  the 
general  principle. 

I  supposed,  when  I  first  adopted  Mr.  Moule's 
suggestion  to  make  this  disposition  of  the  house 
Bewage,  that  some  other  arrangement  would  be  nec- 
essary, for  the  winter  season,  but  even  during  the 
winter  of  1874-75,  —  the  coldest  for  many  a  long 
year,  —  the  liquid  has  been  perfectly  disposed  of, 
and  has  apparently  found  its  outlets  equally  in  all 
parts  of  the  drainage.  (See  chapter  XII.) 

Successful  though  this  experiment  has  been,  I 
have  recently  adopted  a  small  Field's  flush-tank,  in 
the  belief  that  the  system  would  be  improved  by 
having  the  discharge  made  intermittent,  so  that  the 
flow  of  water,  being  more  copious,  should  saturate 
the  ground  for  a  greater  distance,  and  that,  with 
considerable  intervals  during  which  there  is  no  flow, 
there  would  be  a  complete  aeration  of  the  ground.  It 
was  put  in  November,  1875.  Its  effect  on  the  lawn- 
growth  has  not  been  especially  marked,  but  it  has 
thus  far  acted  with  the  greatest  regularity,  and  is 
a  most  satisfactory  arrangement. 

The  accompanying  illustration  (Figure  16)  shows 
the  construction  of  Field's  patent  self-acting  flush- 
tank  (here  referred  to),  which  is  intended  to  be 
placed  immediately  outside  of  the  walls  of  the 
bouse  and  to  receive  all  of  its  liquid  wastes.  It  i» 


THE   DETAILS   OF   HuUSE   DRAINING.  199 

made  entirely  of  earthen-ware  or  cast  iron.  The 
liquids  pass  through  the  grating  of  the  pan  B,  and 
are  discharged  through  a  trap  that  prevents  the 
contained  air  of  the  vessel  from  escaping  at  the 
surface.  0  is  a  ventilating  pipe  to  carry  this  con- 
tained air  to  the  top  of  the  house.  A  is  a  vessel 
holding  a  certain  amount  of  water  which  has  no 
escape  save  through  the  siphon  D.  When  the 
chamber  is  entirely  filled,  the  pouring  in  of  a  few 


Figure  16. 

extra  quarts  of  water,  which  is  sure  to  occur  some- 
time during  the  day,  brings  the  siphon  into  action, 
and  it  flows  copiously  until  the  chamber  is  empty 
to  the  depth  below  which  solid  matters  are  per- 
mitted to  accumulate,  to  oe  occasionally  cleared  out 
m  removing  the  pan  B. 

The  purpose  of  this  apparatus  is  to  prevent  the 
constant  trickling  away  of  the  small  stream  usually 


200      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

flowing  from  the  house  with  too  little  movement  to 
carry  forward  obstructing  matters,  such  as  are  sure 
sooner  or  later  to  clog  any  ordinary  house  drain. 
It  also  furnishes  a  sufficiently  strong  flow  to  secure 
a  wide  distribution  of  the  liquid  instead  of  allow- 
ing it  to  soak  slowly  into  a  small  area  of  soil. 
From  its  intermittent  action,  also,  it  fills  the 
ground  for  a  short  time,  and  then  as  the  liquid  sub- 
sides fresh  atmospheric  air  enters  the  soil  and  as- 
sists, by  its  oxidizing  action,  in  the  work  of  purifi- 
cation. Whether  the  irrigation  be  on  the  surface 
or  by  means  of  underground  pipes,  this  copious  in- 
termittent discharge  is  in  every  way  preferable  to 
the  steady  small  flow. 

English  engineers  who  have  paid  much  attention 
to  this  subject,  seem  to  have  settled  on  this  inter- 
mittent application  of  sewage  to  the  soil,  with  the 
accessory,  in  the  warmer  and  more  dangerous  sea- 
sons, of  the  action  of  the  roots  of  plants,  as  the  best 
means  for  defecating  all  liquid  wastes. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  French  Horticultural 
Society,  there  was  a  discussion  as  to  the  influence  of 
plants  on  water  containing  putrefying  organic  mat- 
ter ;  and  evidence  was  adduced  to  show  that  while 
such  water  left  to  itself  retains  its  putrescent  char- 
acter, the  same  water  in  which  the  roots  of  growing 
plants  are  feeding  loses  entirely  the  bacteria  which 
accompany  putrescence  and  contains  only  the  larger 
infusoriae  which  are  peculiar  to  wholesome  water. 
It  was  sufficient  to  allow  a  living  root  to  act  for  five 
days  for  the  water  to  lose  all  its  bad  smell  and  t€ 
become  purified. 


THE   DETAILS   OF   HOUSE  DRAINING.  201 


HOUSE   VENTILATION. 

Incidentally  to  the  seclusion  of  sewer  air  from 
our  houses,  we  have  to  consider  the  subject  of  gen- 
eral ventilation,  —  a  subject  that  has  been  more  be- 
muddled  and  befogged  by  quasi  scientific  treatment 
than  any  other  connected  with  domestic  life,  unless 
it  be  the  much  vexed  and  generally  misunderstood 
subject  of  sewerage  itself. 

The  best  practical  statement  I  have  met  about  ven- 
tilation was  contained  in  the  remark  of  a  mining 
engineer  in  Pennsylvania :  "  Air  is  like  a  rope  ;  you 
can  pull  it  better  than  you  can  push  it."  All  me- 
chanical appliances  for  pushing  air  into  a  room  or 
a  house  are  disappointing.  What  we  need  to  do  is 
to  pull  out  the  vitiated  air  already  in  the  room ; 
the  fresh  supply  will  take  care  of  itself  if  means 
for  its  admission  are  provided. 

It  has  been  usual  to  withdraw  the  air  through 
openings  near  the  ceiling,  that  is,  to  carry  off  the 
warmer  and  therefore  lighter  portions,  leaving  the 
colder  strata  at  the  bottom  of  the  room.  This 
serves  to  purify  the  air  but  it  is  very  wasteful  of 
heat,  and  causes  too  great  variations  of  tempera- 
ture above  and  below.  Much  the  better  plan  would 
usually  be  to  draw  this  lower  air  out  from  a  point 
near  the  floor,  allowing  the  upper  and  warmer  por- 
tions to  descend  and  take  its  place. 

An  open  fire  with  a  large  chimney  throat,  is  the 
oest  ventilator  for  any  room  ;  the  one  half  or  two 
thirds  of  the  heat  carried  up  the  chimney  is  the 
price  paid  for  immunity  from  disease  ;  and  large 


202      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

though  this  seems  from  its  daily  draft  on  the  wood- 
pile or  the  coal-bin,  it  is  trifling  when  compared  with 
doctors'  bills  and  with  the  loss  of  strength  and  effi- 
ciency that  invariably  result  from  living  in  unven- 
tilated  apartments. 

In  ventilation,  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid 
drafts,  not  alone  from  the  danger  of  taking  cold  as 
a  consequence  of  sitting  in  a  draft,  but  even  more 
from  the  fact  that  persons  inconvenienced  by  cur- 
rents of  air  close  the  ventilating  apertures  as  the 
easiest  means  of  getting  relief,  and  so  subject  them- 
selves to  contaminations  of  the  atmosphere  which, 
in  addition  to  their  other  bad  effects,  are  far  more 
active  in  producing  colds  than  even  the  drafts  them- 
selves. Dr.  De  Chaumont  in  his  papers  on  Habita- 
tions says  :  — 

"  Usually  a  current  at  the  rate  of  one  and  a  half 
to  two  feet  per  second,  equal  to  walking  through 
still  air  at  the  rate  of  one  to  one  and  a  half  miles 
per  hour,  is  hardly  perceived  ;  two  and  a  half  to 
three  feet  per  second  is  distinctly  perceptible  (equal 
to  walking  one  and  three  quarters  to  two  miles  per 
hour  in  still  air)  ;  and  four  to  five  feet  per  second 
(equal  to  walking  two  and  three  quarters  to  three 
and  a  half  miles  per  hour)  is  a  positive  draught. 
Our  object,  therefore,  ought  to  be  in  supplying  an 
air  space  with  fresh  air,  to  take  care  that  the 
current  should  nowhere  exceed  two  feet  per  second 
in  the  room  itself,  and  should  be  kept  as  near  aa 
possible  at  five  feet  per  second  at  the  point  of  en- 
Tance.  I  have  already  shown  that  3,000  cubic  fee* 


THE   DETAILS   OF   HOUSE  DRAINING.  203 

per  hour  are  necessary  for  each  occupant  of  an  air 
space  to  preserve  good  hygienic  conditions,  and  it 
will  therefore  be  easy  to  calculate  the  size  of  the 
openings  required  for  entrance.  If  we  had  an  open 
ing  of  one  square  foot  of  area,  and  the  air  coming 
in  at  five  feet  per  second,  this  would  obviously  give 
us  five  cubic  feet  of  air  per  second,  or,  as  there  are 
3,600  seconds  in  an  hour,  5x3,600=18,000  cubic 
feet  of  air  per  hour.  But  as  we  ask  for  only  3,000 
cubic  feet  for  each  person,  one  sixth  of  this  will  be 
enough,  ^^=6,  so  that  instead  of  the  opening  re- 
quiring to  have  a  sectional  area  of  one  square  foot, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  have  only  one  sixth  of  a 
square  foot,  or  twenty-four  square  inches.  Again, 
it  being  quite  obvious  that  if  a  certain  amount  of 
air  finds  its  way  in,  an  equal  bulk  of  air  must  find 
its  way  out,  we  must  have  at  least  as  much  opening 
for  the  exit  as  for  the  entrance  of  air,  so  that  alto- 
gether the  sectional  area  of  ventilation  openings  re- 
quire to  be  one  third  of  a  square  foot,  or  forty-eight 
square  inches  for  each  occupant  of  an  air  space." 

The  shape  and  arrangement  of  ventilating  tubes 
is  very  important.  The  aim  should  always  be  to  re- 
duce friction  as  much  as  possible ;  which  is  to  be 
accomplished  by  giving  the  smallest  possible  circum- 
ference to  the  area  of  the  air  space.  Round  pipes 
have  less  circumference  to  their  sectional  area  than 
have  oval  ones,  and  square  pipes  have  the  same  ad- 
vantage over  those  of  oblong  section. 

The  following  table  serves  to  show  the  relative 
friction  in  pipes  of  different  forms. 


204      SANITARS-  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


BHAFX  OP  SECTIOS. 

Area. 

Total  length  of  per- 
ipher. 

1 

Coefflcientof  fric- 
tion, circle  being 
1.006. 

Circle 

100 

3545 

1000 

Ellipse,  E—  i    

100 

35.67 

1.006 

100 

3886 

1012 

100 

36.72 

1.036 

100 

37  22 

1050 

100 

38  12 

1.075 

100 

40  00 

1  128 

Rectangle  (sides  4  :  5) 

100 

45  41 

1  281 

Equilateral  triangle      
Right  angled  isosceles  triangle  .    . 

100 
100 

45.59 
48.28 

1.286 
1.362 

OftraurAL  AEEIA  OP  Sixau  OPE.MNQ. 

t| 

Area  of  each  part. 

Total  are*  of  parts. 

2 

0.707 

1.414 

3 

0  574 

1732 

4 

0.500 

2.000 

5 

0  459 

2236 

6 

0  408 

2.449 

7 

0  378 

2  646 

1  square  foot  ........ 

8 
9 

0.353 
0.333 

2.828 
3.000 

10 

0316 

3.162 

11 

0.302 

3.317 

12 

0289 

3  464 

These  tables  are  taken  from  the  section  on  Ventilation  of  Dr.  D« 
Ohaurnont's  papers  on  "  Hygiene." 

The  relative  ventilating  capacity  of  openings  ii 
m  proportion  to  the   square  roots   of  their  areas 


THE  DETAILS   OF   HOUSE  DRAINING.  205 

One  opening  of  one  square  foot  will  deliver  twice  as 
much  air  as  will  four  openings  of  one  fourth  square 
foot  each.  The  foregoing  table  shows  the  size  that 
must  be  given  to  each  of  a  number  of  openings  to 
make  them  equally  effective  with  one  opening  a 
foot  square. 

Ventilation  is  much  more  effective  through  a  sin- 
gle pipe  than  through  several  pipes  having  an  equal 
aggregate  sectional  area. 

Every  bend  in  a  ventilating  tube  increases  the 
resistance  to  the  current  and  the  resistance  is  pro- 
portionate to  the  angle  of  the  bend. 

The  admission  of  fresh  air  to  supply  the  place  of 
that  which  is  withdrawn  is  an  imperative  necessity, 
and  in  tightly  built  modern  houses  cracks  and  cran- 
nies for  this  purpose  are  wanting.  It  is  not  unusual 
in  modern  houses  supplied  with  furnaces,  especially 
where  there  is  no  public  sewerage,  to  find  such  an 
arrangement  of  closet  and  kitchen  drains  as  permits 
the  escape  of  some  of  their  dangerous  gases  immedi- 
ately into,  or  into  the  vicinity  of,  the  mouth  of  the 
cold-air  box  which  supplies  the  furnace,  and  the 
flues  which  furnish  the  interior  of  the  house  with  its 
heated  air. 

In  a  house  warmed  by  a  furnace  the  supply  from 
he  registers  is  usually  sufficient  to  feed  the  chim- 
ey,  and  if  the  furnace  chamber  draws  its  air  from 
the  outer  atmosphere,  from  an  unfouled  locality, 
and  by  all  means  not  from  a  cellar,  the  only  objec- 
tion lies  in  the  character  of  ordinary  furnace  heat- 
•ng.  Concerning  this  it  need  be  said  here  only  that 


206   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

iron  heated  by  hot  water  is  better  than  iron  heated 
by  the  direct  action  of  fire,  and  that,  if  water-pipes 
be  not  used,  wrought  iron  is  a  much  safer  material 
than  cast-iron  for  the  transmission  of  the  heat. 

In  all  houses  which  are  connected  with  cess-pools 
or  public  sewers,  especial  pains  should  be  taken 
to  supply  enough  fresh  air  for  the  fires  through  some 
efficient  means  of  communication  with  the  outer  at- 
mosphere. Otherwise,  there  is  danger  that  they 
will  feed  themselves  from  badly  trapped  communi- 
cations with  the  drain. 

Sunlight  is  the  handmaiden  of  ventilation  and 
fresh  air.  Indeed,  ample  sunlight  and  the  avoid- 
ance of  a  damp  soil  may  be  taken  as  the  very  fun- 
damental conditions  of  healthy  living. 

In  the  lying-in  hospital  in  Dublin  the  mortality 
of  new-born  infants  during  twenty-five  years  pre- 
ceding its  ventilation  was  one  in  six.  In  the  twenty- 
five  years  following  the  supply  of  pure  air  by  better 
ventilation,  it  was  one  in  one  hundred  and  four. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  such  striking 
changes  should  have  taken  place  so  recently,  but  it 
is  to  be  remembered  that  it  is  only  about  one  hun- 
dred years  since  oxygen  was  discovered,  and  hardly 
fifty  years  since  the  physiology  of  respiration  was 
made  known  ;  while  the  fact  of  injury  from  breath- 
ing foul  air  is  indeed  a  very  recent  discovery. 

PRIVATE  DRAINS. 

As  with  almost  every  department  of  sewerage 
vork  so  with  private  drains  ;  the  engineer  in  chargt 


THE   DETAILS   OF  HOUSE  DRAINING.  207 

endeavors  to  combine  in  his  rules  for  distinctive 
points  all  that  experienca  has  developed.  And  as  the 
work  in  Providence  is  among  the  most  recent  in  this 
country,  I  give  herewith  the  regulations  proposed 
by  Mr.  Shedd  and  adopted  by  the  city  government. 
He  prefaces  them  with  the  following  remarks  :  — 

"  No  amount  of  skill,  care,  and  expense  in  build- 
ing the  public  sewers  will  relieve  the  property- 
holder  from  the  necessity  of  constructing  his  private 
drains  with  all  possible  care.  These  drains  often 
cause,  in  the  aggregate,  more  trouble,  on  account  of 
imperfect  plan  and  construction,  than  all  the  rest  of 
a  sewerage  system. 

"  Although  house-drains  are  laid  at  the  expense 
of  the  owners  of  the  premises  to  be  drained,  the 
'  Rules '  require  the  work  to  be  done  under  the 
permission  and  supervision  of  the  Water  Commis- 
sioners, and  under  the  immediate  inspection  of  their 
engineer  of  private  drains  ;  also  that  it  shall  be  done 
by  a  licensed  drain-layer,  under  bond  to  do  faithful 
work.  These  restrictions  have  been  proved  by  ex- 
perience, in  many  cities,  to  be  necessary  to  secure 
housekeepers  from  the  great  annoyance  to  which 
they  would  otherwise  be  frequently  subjected  from 
imperfect  arrangement  or  unfaithful  execution." 

"1.  Applications  for  permits  to  connect  with  any 
eewev  which  has  been  constructed,  or  which  is  in 
process  of  construction,  by  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  must  be  made  in  writ- 


208       SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

ing  to  the  Water  Commissioners  by  the  owners  of 
the  property  to  be  drained,  or  by  their  duly  author- 
ized attorneys,  and  must  be  accompanied  by  a  clear 
description  of  the  premises  to  be  drained,  and  of  the 
drains  required,  and  also  by  certain  agreements,  all 
as  provided  in  the  printed  form  of  application  issued 
by  said  commissioners. 

"  2.  No  one  but  a  drain-layer,  duly  licensed  by 
the  water  commissioners,  will  be  allowed  to  make 
connections  with  the  public  sewers  named  in  the 
above  section,  nor  to  lay  any  drains  in  connection 
therewith. 

"  3.  At  least  twenty-four  hours'  notice  must  be 
given  at  the  office  of  said  commissioners  before  any 
street  or  public  way  can  be  opened  for  the  purpose 
of  laying  a  private  drain. 

"  4.  No  drain-pipe  can  be  extended  from  work 
previously  done  and  accepted,  or  new  connections  of 
any  kind  be  made  with  such  work,  unless  previous 
notice  of  at  least  twenty-four  hours  is  given  to  the 
engineer  in  charge  of  private  drains. 

"  5.  No  work  of  laying  drains  can  be  commenced 
or  continued  unless  the  permit  is  on  the  ground  in 
the  hands  of  the  drain-layer,  or  some  one  employed 
by  him. 

"  ETJLES  FOB   LAYING  DRAINS. 

"  1.  In  opening  any  street  or  public  way,  all  ma- 
terials for  paving  or  ballasting  must  be  removed 
with  the  least  possible  injury  or  loss  of  the  same, 
and,  together  with  the  excavated  material  from  the 


THE  DETAILS   OF  HOUSE   DRAINAGE.  209 

trenches,  must  be  placed  where  they  will  cause  the 
least  practicable  inconvenience  to  the  public.  Aa 
little  as  possible  of  the  trench  must  be  dug  until  the 
junction-piece  into  the  sewer  is  found,  unless  it  is 
first  determined  to  make  a  new  opening  into  the 
sewer. 

"  2.  Whenever  the  sides  of  the  trenches  will  not 
stand  perpendicular,  sheeting  and  braces  must  be 
used  to  prevent  caving. 

"  3.  No  pipes  or  other  materials  for  the  drains 
can  be  used  till  they  have  been  examined  and  ap- 
proved by  the  chief  engineer  or  one  of  his  assist- 
ants, or  by  a  duly-authorized  inspector. 

"  4.  The  least  inclination  that  can  be  allowed  for 
water-closet,  kitchen  and  all  other  drains  of  not 
over  six  inches  diameter,  liable  to  receive  solid  sub- 
stances, is  one  half  an  inch  in  two  feet ;  and  for 
cellar  or  other  drains,  to  receive  water  only,  one 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  two  feet.  All  drains  to  be 
laid  at  a  grade  of  not  over  one  half  an  inch  in  two 
feet,  between  the  sewers  and  the  sidewalks. 

"  5.  The  ends  of  all  pipes  not  to  be  immediately 
connected  with  water-closets,  sinks,  down-spouts,  or 
catch-basins,  are  to  be  securely  guarded  against  the 
introduction  of  sand  or  earth  by  brick  and  cement, 
or  other  water-tight  and  imperishable  materials. 

"  6.  All  pipes  that  must  be  left  open  to  drain  cel- 
lars, areas,  yards,  or  gardens,  must  be  connected 
with  suitable  catch-basins  of  brick,  the  bottoms  of 
which  must  not  be  less  than  two  and  a  half  feet  be- 
low the  bottom  of  the  outlet  pipe,  the  diameter  not 


210   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

less  than  three  feet,  and  the  form  and  construc- 
tion of  which  are  to  be  prescribed  by  the  officers 
named  in  the  third  rule.  When  meat-packing- 
houses, slaughter-houses,  lard-rendering  establish- 
ments, hotels,  or  eating-houses,  are  connected  with 
the  sewers,  the  dimensions  of  the  catch-basins  will 
be  required  to  be  of  a  large  size,  according  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  case.  When  the  end  of  the 
drain-pipe  is  connected  with  a  temporary  wooden 
catch-basin  for  draining  foundations  during  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings,  the  drain-layer  will  be  held  re- 
sponsible that  no  dirt  or  sand  is  carried  into  the 
drain  or  sewer  from  such  temporary  catch-basin. 

"  7.  No  private  catch-basin  can  be  built  in  the 
public  street,  but  must  be  placed  inside  of  the  line  of 
the  lot  to  be  drained,  except  when  the  sidewalks 
are  excavated,  and  used  as  cellars. 

"  8.  No  privy-vaults  can  be  connected  with  the 
sewers  except  through  an  intervening  catch-basin ; 
and  the  discharge-pipe  of  the  vault  must  be  high 
enough  above  its  bottom  to  effectually  prevent  any- 
thing but  the  liquid  contents  of  the  vault  from  pass- 
ing into  the  drain. 

"  9.  The  inside  of  every  drain,  after  it  is  laid, 
must  be  left  smooth  and  perfectly  clean  throughout 
'ts  entire  length. 

"  10.  In  case  it  shall  be  necessary  to  connect  a 
drain-pipe  with  a  public  sewer  where  no  junction  ia 
left  in  such  sewer,-  the  new  connection  with  such 
sewer  can  only  be  made  either  by  one  of  the  em- 
ployees of  the  commissioners,  or  when  an  officei 


THE  DETAILS  OF  HOUSE  DRAINAGE.  211 

named  in  rule  third  is  present  to  see  the  whole  of 
the  work  done. 

"  11.  Whenever  it  is  necessary  to  disturb  a  drain 
in  actual  use,  it  must  in  no  case  be  obstructed  with- 
out the  special  direction  of  one  of  the  officers  named 
in  rule  third.  No  pipe-drain  can  be  laid  above  the 
bottom  of  a  wooden  drain,  whether  in  actual  use  or 
not,  unless  the  pipe  is  made  to  rest  either  on  brick 
or  stone,  or  other  suitable  support.  In  no  case  will 
drain-pipes  be  allowed  to  rest  on  wood  or  other  per- 
ishable material. 

"  12.  The  back-filling  over  drains,  after  they  are 
laid,  must  be  puddled,  and,  together  with  the  re- 
placing of  ballast  and  paving,  must  be  done  within 
forty-eight  hours  after  the  completion  of  that  part 
of  the  drain  lying  within  the  public  way,  and  done 
so  as  to  make  them  at  least  as  good  as  they  were 
before  they  were  disturbed,  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  commissioners  and  their  engineer;  and  the 
owner  will  be  held  reponsible  for  any  subsequent 
settlement  of  the  ground.  All  water  and  gas  pipes 
must  be  protected  from  injury  or  settling  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  engineer. 

"  13.  Every  drain-layer  must  inclose  any  opening 
which  he  may  make  in  the  public  streets  or  ways, 
with  sufficient  barriers ;  and  must  maintain  red 
lights  at  the  same  at  night ;  and  must  take  all  other 
necessary  precautions  tc  guard  the  public  effectually 
against  all  accidents,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  work  ;  and  can  only  lay  drains  on  condition 
that  he  shall  use  every  precaution  against  acci- 


212   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HLUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

dents  to  persons,  horses,  vehicles,  or  property  of  any 
kind. 

"  14.  In  case  a  water  or  gas  pipe  should  come  in 
the  way  of  a  drain,  the  question  of  passing  over  or 
under  the  water  or  gas  pipe,  or  of  raising  or  lower- 
ing it,  must  be  determined  by  one  of  the  officers 
named  in  rule  third.  In  no  case  can  the  drain-layer 
be  allowed  to  decide  the  question  himself. 

"  15.  No  exhaust  from  steam-engines  can  be  con- 
nected with  the  private  or  public  drains,  and  no 
blow-off  from  steam-boilers  can  be  so  connected, 
without  special  permission  from  the  commissioners 
or  their  engineer. 

"16.  Such  information  as  the  commissioners 
have  with  regard  to  the  positions  of  junctions  will 
be  furnished  to  drain-layers,  but  at  their  risk  as  to 
the  accuracy  of  the  same. 

"  17.  When  any  change  of  direction  is  made  in 
the  pipe,  either  in  a  horizontal  or  vertical  direction, 
curves  must  be  used.  No  pipe  can  be  clipped  in  any 
case. 

"  18.  All  persons  are  required  to  place  an  effect- 
ual trap  in  the  line  of  drain  just  before  it  leaves  the 
premises,  and  to  make  an  open  connection  with  a 
down-spout  back  of  the  trap ;  also  to  make  an  open 
connection  with  the  highest  part  of  the  soil  pipe 
within  the  premises,  through  a  large  pipe  or  flue,  to 
a  point  above  the  roof  of  the  building. 

"  19.  Every  person  violating  any  of  the  provis- 
ions of  the  foregoing  rules  &Lall  pay  a  fine  of  not 
less  than  twenty  nor  more  than  fifty  dollars." 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM. 

THE  cases  are  by  no  means  few  in  which  the  easi- 
est solution  of  the  excrement  nuisance  problem  is 
to  be  sought  through  some  form  of  dry  conservancy, 
that  is  to  say,  the  admixture  of  either  earth,  or  coal 
ashes,  or  other  dry  household  or  town  refuse,  in 
sufficient  quantities  for  complete  absorption  so  that 
the  degree  of  moisture  in  the  material  itself  may 
be  reduced  to  a  point  where  a  healthy  decomposi- 
tion will  be  carried  on,  instead  of  the  foul  putrefac- 
tion to  which  the  production  of  offensive  and  dan- 
gerous gases  is  chiefly  due. 

The  statements  in  this  chapter,  so  far  as  they  are 
my  own,  are  based  upon  an  amount  of  experience 
and  observation  sufficient  to  have  brought  the  con- 
viction that  the  advantages  of  the  dry  system  are 
by  no  means  adequately  appreciated  either  by  the 
public  at  large,  or  by  those  having  official  direction 
of  such  matters.  As  the  most  of  what  is  known 
on  the  subject  is  the  result  of  actual  experiment, 
and  as  the  investigations  upon  which  the  system 
jiust  largely  rest  in  seeking  public  favor,  have  been 
chiefly  made  by  officers  detailed  by  the  health 
Authorities  of  England,  it  has  seemed  best  to  in- 
tert  extracts  from  foreign  health  reports,  sanitary 


214       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

journals,  etc.,  giving  the  accounts  of  these  investi- 
gations in  the  language  of  those  who  have  made 
them.  An  attempt  to  condense  these  various  state- 
ments, while  it  might  lead  to  the  avoidance  of  repe- 
tition, would  probably  detract  from  the  force  of  the 
facts  and  experience  stated. 

The  systems  coming  under  this  head  are  three  ill 
number. 

1.  Moule's  Earth-Closet  System. 

2.  The  Goux  Earth-Tub  System. 

3.  The  Ash-closet,  which  is  largely  used  in  cer- 
tain manufacturing  districts  in  England. 

These  will  be  considered  separately  with  such  evi- 
dence, favorable  or  unfavorable,  as  I  have  been  able 
to  obtain. 

MOULE'S   EARTH-CLOSET    SYSTEM. 

The  use  of  the  earth  in  closets,  under  the  meth- 
ods now  so  well  known,  is  the  invention  of  the  Rev. 
Henry  Moule,  Vicar  of  Fordington,  England.  It 
has  been  subjected  to  a  very  active  public  discus- 
sion during  ten  years  past,  and  has  had  many  trials 
TII  public  and  private  establishments,  and  in  one 
or  two  cases  in  whole  villages.  On  the  whole,  its 
progress  has  been  quite  as  rapid  and  secure  as  could 
have  been  prudently  hoped  for.  Its  introduction 
into  this  country  dates  back  to  the  year  1868,  and 
although  it  has  not  proved  a  profitable  investment 
for  the  company  who  so  energetically  presented  ii 
to  public  notice,  it  is  constantly  and  steadily  win 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       21f> 

fling  its  way  as  being  obviously  the  best  available 
system  for  certain  circumstances  ;  while  the  enco- 
miums which  it  has  received  from  those  who  have 
experienced  its  benefits  here,  have  not  been  less 
satisfactory  than  those  which  have  attended  its  in- 
troduction in  Great  Britain. 

Fortunately  I  am  qualified  to  write  on  this  sub- 
ject from  large  experience  extending  over  the  whole 
period  of  its  use  in  America,  but  what  I  say  in  its 
favor  is  to  be  accepted  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  I 
was  among  the  earliest  of  its  champions,  had  a  pe- 
cuniary interest  in  its  success,  and  have  still  (aside 
from  the  hope  of  profit  which  I  fear  vanished  long 
ago)  a  very  earnest  desire  to  see  it  meet  with  the 
general  recognition  to  which  it  seems  entitled. 

For  seven  years  past  I  have,  at  my  own  residence, 
depended  entirely  upon  some  form  of  earth-closet, 
and  in  my  present  house  have  had  in  operation  for 
five  years,  winter  and  summer,  two  closets  in  con- 
stant daily  use,  —  one  on  each  floor  of  the  house, 
with  such  success  that  I  would  on  no  account  ex- 
change them  for  the  water-closet  which  is  so  univer- 
sally used  among  my  neighbors.  The  manner  in 
which  these  closets  are  arranged  will  be  described 
under  the  appropriate  heading,  and  it  may  be  well 
to  refer  here  to  the  description  already  given  (page 
196)  of  the  way  in  which  all  the  liquid  wastes  of 
the  house  are  disposed  of  with  the  help  of  a  Field's 
flush-tank  and  irrigating  drains. 

Several  pages  of  what  follows  on  this  subject  are 
<aken  from  an  earlier  work  written  in  1 869. 


216       SANITARY  DKA1NAGK    OF   HOUSED   AM)   TOWNS. 

Before  the  earth  system  can  be  adopted  into 
general  use,  the  slight  care  and  attention  that  its 
success  requires  must  be  accepted  as  an  addition  to 
the  details  of  domestic  and  municipal  economy. 

The  water  system  with  its  enormous  bills  of 
expense  for  reservoirs,  aqueducts,  service-pipes, 
plumbing  work,  and  sewers,  requires  constant  su- 
pervision and  care.  Whether  in  private  establish- 
ments in  the  country  or  in  large  cities,  the  details 
of  its  management  require  an  amount  of  supervis- 
ion and  of  costly  labor  which,  could  they  have 
been  set  forth  before  the  system  was  anywhere  in- 
troduced, would  have  seemed  an  insuperable  objec- 
tion to  its  adoption.  Now,  they  are  taken  as  a 
matter  of  course,  and  water-rates  and  sewer  com- 
missioners' taxes  are  accepted  as  a  necessity  of  civ- 
ilized life,  and  are  paid  without  demur. 

The  earth  system  promises  to  do  away  with  the 
necessity  for  most  of  these  charges,  and  to  produce 
a  money  result  which  will  more  or  less  repay  the 
others. 

At  the  same  time,  the  perfect  carrying  out  of 
the  earth  system  of  sewage  will  require  a  certain 
imount  of  care  and  some  expense,  which  it  will  be 
better  to  consider  at  the  outset.  It  is  not  worth 
while  to  make  a  comparison  between  the  require- 
ments of  the  two  rivals,  because  the  more  vita] 
considerations,  according  to  which  the  verdict  is  to 
be  given,  are  so  weighty  that  the  question  of  rela- 
tive cr«t  is  comparatively  insignificant. 

There  are  two  extreme  cases  to  be   considered 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      217 

and  the  various  conditions  that  fill  the  gap  between 
diem  will  necessarily  resemble  one  or  the  other  ac- 
Rording  to  their  magnitude.  In  all  cases,  the  prin- 
ciples are  identical. 

1.  The  earth  for  use  in  closets  must  be  dry ;  not 
necessarily  dried  by  artificial  heat,  but  made  as  dry 
as  it  can  be  by  exposure  to  the  air  and  by  the  ex- 
clusion of  rain. 

2.  It  must  contain  enough  alumina  (clay),  or  or- 
ganic  matter,  or  oxide  of    iron  or  be   sufficiently 
powdery  to  give  it  sufficient  absorbing  power. 

3.  It  must  be  sifted  of  its  stones  and  coarser  par- 
ticles. 

4.  The    mechanical   arrangement   of    the   closet 
must  be  such  that  a  sufficient  quantity  of  earth  will 
be,    with   certainty,    deposited   upon   the   faeces  — 
enough  to  cover  them,  and  to  absorb  the  urine  of 
the  single  evacuation.    And  the  accumulation  under 
the  seat  must  be  occasionally  raked  down  or  leveled 
off  in  the  vault  when  an  ordinary  vault  is  used. 

5.  When  the  vault  or  receptacle  has  become  too 
full,  its  contents  must  be  removed,  and  before  the 
supply  is  exhausted  the  reservoir  must  be  refilled. 

6.  If  the  earth  is  to  be  again  used,  its   organic 
matter  must  be  destroyed  by  fermentation,  and  '*a 
moisture  must  be  evaporated. 

7.  In  towns,  some  system  must  be  adopted  lor 
the   supply    of    earth   and   removal   of    deposits  — 
either  by  the  public  authorities  or  by  private  enter- 
prise! 

1.  As   Mr.  Moule  very  tersely  states   the 


218   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS 

"  An  earth-closet  will  no  more  work  without  db  9 
earth  than  a  water-closet  will  work  without  water ;  " 
but  the  dryness  here  referred  to  is  not  absolute  dry- 
ness,  for  the  earth  of  the  closet  will  always  contain 
what  moisture  may  be  absorbed  from  the  atmos- 
phere. This,  and  even  a  little  more  than  this,  I 
have  found  to  be  not  at  all  objectionable.  What  ia 
required  is,  according  to  Professor  Joy,  that  so 
much  of  the  moisture  of  the  faeces  shall  be  immedi- 
ately withdrawn  from  them  that  there  shall  be  too 
little  left  to  cause  an  offensive  putrefaction. 

The  best  manner  for  drying  the  earth  depends 
very  much  upon  the  quantity  required,  and  the 
means  at  command.  Two  or  three  cart-loads,  which 
will  be  sufficient  for  a  year's  use  of  an  ordinary 
family,  may  be  taken  from  a  ploughed  field  or  a 
road-side  gutter  during  the  dry  weather  of  summer. 
Dumped  in  an  out-of-the-way  corner  under  a 
wood-shed,  or  in  any  other  dry  place,  being  under- 
laid with  boards  to  prevent  it  from  absorbing  the 
moisture  of  the  earth,  it  will  soon  become  suffi- 
ciently dry  for  use,  and  will  remain  so  throughout 
the  dampest  and  foggiest  weather  of  the  winter  or 
spring.  It  might  be  equally  well  kept  in  a  dry  and 
well-ventilated  cellar.  It  may  be  sifted,  little  by 
little,  as  wanted,  and  it  will  answer  tolerably  well 
if  it  is  merely  put  through  the  ordinary  coal-sifter, 
though  something  finer  would  be  preferable.  My 
sieve  has  six  meshes  to  the  inch ;  perhaps  foul 
would  do  as  well.  When  the  earth  is  sifted,  it'maj 
oe  stowed  away  in  boxes  or  barrels  in  some  easilj 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM       219 

Accessible  place,  and  there  remain  until  wanted  for 
use.  This  is  sufficient  for  the  requirements  of  a 
private  house. 

In  preparing  for  the  supply  of  a  large  town,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  procure  a  land-right,  in  order 
that  deep  excavations  can  be  made.  The  amount 
of  earth  needed  will  be  very  large,  and  it  must,  of 
course,  be  procured  in  the  cheapest  way.  This  will 
be  in  nearly  all  cases,  by  making  a  clean  sweep  as 
deep  as  it  is  economical  to  work,  and  making  an 
acre  of  land  produce  as  much  earth  as  possible. 
The  high  price  of  land  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  town  may  make  it  desirable  to  go  to  a  consider- 
able distance,  in  order  to  secure  cheap  land  and 
cheap  transportation  combined.  The  earth  being 
procured,  the  first  drying  can  be  most  economically 
done  near  the  spot  from  which  it  was  taken,  by 
simply  storing  it  under  rain-tight  and  well-venti- 
lated sheds.  It  would,  perhaps,  be  well  to  make 
some  provision  for  rapid,  artificial  drying  in  the 
town  to  provide  against  emergency  and  accident. 

2.  There  is  undoubtedly  a  good  deal  of  differ- 
ence in  the  effectiveness  of  earths  of  various  com- 
position ;  though,  with  a  considerable  range  of  ex- 
periment and  observation,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  the  kinds  of  earth  which  are  not  suited  for  usa 
in  the  closet  are  much  fewer  than  would  be  gener- 
ally supposed.  Pure  sand  and  gravel  are  nearly 
worthless,  but  I  think  that  any  earth  that  contains 
enough  clay  or  organic  matter  for  the  production  of 
wdinary  crops  will  answer  the  purpose.  A  nearlj 


220       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

pure  clay,  however,  is  objectionable  from  its  ten- 
dency to  absorb  moisture  from  the  air.  If  to  be  used 
only  once,  an  equal  weight  of  muck  or  peat  may 
be,  from  its  greater  bulk,  more  valuable  than  clay. 
Suitable  clay  could  probably  be  re-used  many  more 
times,  and  so  would  be  cheaper  for  use  in  towns. 
Without  being  able  to  give  a  definite  scientific  rea- 
son for  the  opinion,  I  think  that  a  clay  loam,  highly 
charged  with  oxides  of  iron  (notably  reddish  clay 
(cams),  would  be  the  best.  In  my  own  experience, 
t  have  found  anthracite  coal  ashes  to  answer  a  per- 
fectly good  purpose,  —  especially  after  one  use  in 
the  closet  has  dampened  them  enough  to  lay  their 
dust. 

3.  The  sifting  of  the  earth  is,  as  I  have  shown,  a 
very  simple  matter  when  it  is  a  question  merely  of 
the  supply  of  a  single  household.  When  large 
quantities  are  required,  it  would  be  the  most  eco- 
nomical plan  to  adopt  revolving  screens,  such  as  are 
used  for  cleaning  coal  at  mines,  the  construction  be- 
ing similar  to  that  of  the  bolting  screen  of  a  com- 
mon flour-mill.  Such  a  screen  should  be,  probably, 
twenty  feet  long,  the  first  half  of  its  length  being 
furnished  with  quarter-inch  meshes,  and  the  next 
with  half-inch  meshes.  Stones  and  very  large 
lumps  would  be  discharged  at  the  end  of  the 
screen ;  the  coarser  particles  passing  through  the 
half-inch  mesh  might  be  broken  up  in  a  stamping- 
mill  and  resifted.  If  the  screening-house  were 
built  in  a  side  hill,  so  that  carts  could  lead  directly 
to  the  screen,  and  the  prepared  earth  fall  to  a  storj 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      221 

below,  much  necessity  for  shoveling  would  be  ob- 
viated. 

4.  Concerning  the  mechanical  arrangement  for 
the   closet,  I  am  more  and  more  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  Mr.  Moule's  device  is  the  only  one 
that  will  be  effective  under  all  circumstances.     Pos- 
sibly variations  in  the  size  of  the  "chucker"  (by 
which  the  quantity  of  earth  used  is  measured),  ac- 
cording to  the  quality  of  the  earth,  may  be  found 
to  be  desirable.     Whether  this  apparatus  is  used  or 
whether  we  depend  on  covering  with  a  hand-scoop, 
the   quantity  should  be  regulated  by  the  quantity 
of   urine   to   be   absorbed,  and    at   each   urination 
earth  should   be   thrown   down,  to  prevent   undue 
moisture. 

In  an  ordinary  broad  vault  the  deposits  will  nat- 
urally form  a  heap  under  the  seat.  This  must  be, 
now  and  then,  leveled  off,  and  the  surface  exposed 
by  the  leveling  should  be  thinly  covered  with  the 
drier  earth  near  the  sides  of  the  vault.  Probably 
under  no  ordinary  circumstances  would  it  be  neces- 
sary to  do  this  oftener  than  twice  in  a  month.  In 
the  commode  and  the  up-stairs  closet,  it  will  never 
be  necessary.  With  the  Broadmoor  tank,  or  larger 
vault,  it  will  be. 

5.  Just  as  it  is  requisite  to  empty  a  cess-pool,  or 
fill  the  tank  over  a  water-closet,  as   occasion   re- 
quires, so  it  is  necessary  to  supp^  fresh  earth  to 
the  earth-closet,  and  carry  away  the  accumulation. 
The  details  of  this  work  are  too  simple  to  "need  at- 
-ention  here. 


222      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES    AND   TOWNS. 

In  the  case  of  towns,  where  the  system  is  in  any- 
thing like  general  use,  the  care  of  the  closets  should 
devolve  almost  exclusively  upon  associations  or  in- 
dividuals engaged  in  the  business  of  earth  supply. 
Having,  as  a  gardener,  undertaken  this  in  Newport 
for  the  sake  of  the  manure  to  be  obtained,  I  am  al- 
ready convinced  that  in  all  places  where  manure 
has  even  a  moderate  value,  it  will  be  unnecessary 
to  make  a  charge  for  the  earth  and  attendance. 
The  preparation  of  the  earth  and  the  amount  of 
transportation  constitute  a  trifling  tax  when  com- 
pared with  the  value  of  the  product.  When  the 
business  increases,  so  that  the  time  of  a  man  and 
a  horse  and  cart  will  be  constantly  employed, 
the  details  can  be  somewhat  simplified,  and  the 
rounds  made  with  more  regularity  ;  the  only  pre- 
caution necessary  being,  to  have  always  an  abun- 
dant supply  of  earth  ready  in  advance,  so  that  pro- 
tracted wet  weather  will  not  require  regular  deliv- 
ery to  be  postponed  in  order  to  make  use  of  the 
first  fair  weather  for  securing  earth. 

Wherever  the  demand  is  sufficient  for  the  busi- 
ness to  be  regularly  systematized,  the  earth  may  be 
delivered  as  ordered,  just  as  coal  is  now  delivered 
from  coal-yards,  and  it  would  be  proper  to  make  a 
charge  for  "  carrying  in,"  as  in  handling  coal.  If 
the  cart  is  suitably  covered  against  rain,  it  is  most 
convenient  to  carry  the  earth  in  bags.  These  may 
be  emptied  into  a  bin  in  the  cellar,  from  which  com- 
mode-hods are  supplied,  or  into  the  hoist-box  of 
Uie  up-stairs  closets,  or  they  may  be  carried  tc 
tlosets  on  the  upper  floors  of  houses. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      223 

The  deposits  may  be  removed  in  baskets,  and 
emptied  into  the  cart  on  its  returning  rounds.  Bar- 
rels are  too  heavy  for  one  man  to  handle,  and  are 
less  convenient  than  bags  for  filling  closet-reser 
voirs. 

In  places  where  manure  has  not  sufficient  value 
to  pay  the  cost  of  attendance,  the  charge  necessary 
to  make  a  profitable  business  of  attending  to  a  con- 
siderable number  of  closets  would  be  much  less 
than  the  water  rates  and  plumbers'  bills  that  are 
an  inseparable  part  of  the  water  system.  If  ashes 
are  used,  the  addition  of  the  closet  manure  to  them 
will  not  materially  increase  the  cost  of  their  hand- 
ling, and  it  will  give  them  a  value  which  they  do 
not  now  possess. 

6.  In  the  country  where  the  manure  is  to  be  ap- 
plied directly  to  the  garden,  it  will  be  perhaps  bet- 
ter to  use  the  earth  but  once,  as  there  is  an  advan- 
tage in  having  it  as  bulky  as  possible  for  more  even 
distribution  ;  but  even  in  this  case  it  should  not  be 
applied  in  its  fresh  state.  It  should  be  first  thrown 
into  a  bin  or  into  barrels,  in  which  it  will  retain  its 
moisture  long  enough  for  perfect  fermentation.  In 
this  way  its  paper  will  be  destroyed,  and  its  faecal 
matter  will  be  diffused  throughout  the  mass  and 
absorbed  by  the  earth. ;  while  the  earth  itself  will 
.lave  its  own  fertilizing  constituents  developed  b} 
the  decomposition  going  on  within  it.  When  ready 
for  use,  the  earth  will  be  nearly  indistinguishable 
from  that  freshly  taken  from  the  field ;  but  its  ma- 
rr.irial  power  will  be  materially  increased.  If  the 


224   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

manure  is  to  be  sold  in  the  market  or  is  to  be 
transported  to  any  distance,  it  should  be  repeatedly 
used,  in  order  that  its  value  may  be  as  much  as 
possible  increased.  The  deposits  taken  from  the 
closets  should  be  carried  to  the  earth  depot,  thrown 
into  compact  heaps,  moistened  a  little,  if  necessary, 
and  left  to  ferment.  After  a  sufficient  time,  these 
heaps  may  be  shoveled  over,  and  left  to  undergo  a 
second  fermentation.  They  may  then  be  spread 
out  to  dry,  or,  better,  removed  to  a  drying-room 
where  there  is  a  free  circulation  of  air.  After  be- 
coming dry,  the  earth  may  be  passed  through  a 
screen,  and  the  finer  parts  stored  away  for  further 
use;  the  small  amount  of  coarser  matter  may  be 
again  moistened  and  fermented.  Of  this  latter, 
the  quantity  will  be  very  small,  and  it  will  consist 
chiefly  of  dried-up  solid  faeces,  which  it  may  be 
found  best  to  pulverize  and  use  directly  as  manure, 
or  it  may  be  mixed  with  deposits  freshly  brought  in 
from  the  closets.  It  will  help  the  fermentation  of 
these,  and  will  be  entirely  absorbed. 

7.  What  is  the  best  arrangement  for  towns  and 
villages  it  is  now  too  early  to  say ;  but  in  any  case 
the  details  of  the  system  would  be  simple  and  easy 
of  execution.  If  the  value  of  the  manure  is  enough 
to  make  the  earth  business  a  source  of  profit,  it 
may  be  safely  left  to  private  enterprise;  but  even 
in  this  case  the  sanitary  authorities  of  the  town 
should  provide  for  the  inspection  of  closets,  espe- 
cially among  the  poorer  classes,  and  it  should  be 
required  that  all  comply  with  such  provisions  as  th« 
nnblic  interest  makes  necessary. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       225 

If  the  preservation  of  the  manure  is  not  an  ob- 
ject, the  removal  of  the  accumulations  may  be  pro- 
vided for,  as  is  now  done  in  the  case  of  ashes,  etc. 
The  public  authorities  should,  in  all  cases,  assume 
such  control  of  the  matter  as  to  insure  the  perfect 
working  of  the  system  ;  but  the  manner  in  which 
private  establishments  shall  be  supplied  with  earth 
is  a  question  to  be  decided  by  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  each  case.  Just  as  no  water-closet  should 
be  allowed  to  remain  in  use  without  a  supply  of 
water  or  with  an  obstructed  soil  pipe,  so  should  no 
earth-closet  be  allowed  to  become  ineffective  from 
the  neglect  of  its  owner  to  provide  it  with  earth  or 
to  have  its  accumulations  removed.  It  is  now  nec- 
essary, in  even  the  smallest  towns,  to  prevent  any 
outrageous  neglect  of  common  privies ;  and  the  ex- 
tension of  the  same  system  of  inspection  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  dry-earth  sewage  would  be 
neither  difficult  for  the  authorities  nor  onerous  to 
householders. 

THE     MANURE     QUESTION      AS      AFFECTING      THE 
EAKTH   SYSTEM. 

In  this  connection,  the  following,  which  I  pub- 
lished in  1872,1  seems  worth  reproducing  :  — 

It  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  fix  the  value  of  any 
animal  manure,  except  by  accurate  analysis  of  each 
separate  sample.  Opinions  as  to  the  value  of  human 
excrement  vary  widely  according  to  the  standard  of 
comparison  taken.  It  is  a  singular  fact  (which  does 

*  Earth-Closet*  and  Earth  Sewage,  p.  49. 
15 


226      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

not  obtain  with  reference  to  most  other  manures) 
that  the  valuation  of  human  excrement  made  by 
chemists  is  very  much  less  than  that  of  the  practi- 
cal farmer.  For  instance,  in  England,  where  the 
value  of  the  mineral  constituents  of  the  material 
Beems  to  be  entirely  disregarded,  it  is  usual  to  meas- 
ure the  value  solely  by  the  amount  of  ammonia  that 
may  be  produced  from  it ;  those  parts  of  night-soil 
which  are  the  key  to  the  lasting  fertility  of  the  land 
are  not  taken  into  the  account,  and  ammonia  alon^ 
(which,  although  a  most  valuable  and  efficient  aid 
to  the  farmer,  counts  as  nothing  in  giving  perma- 
nent fertility)  is  considered. 

In  this  connection,  I  reproduce  a  portion  of  an 
article  of  my  own  written  for  Judd's  "  Agricultural 
Annual"  of  1868  : l  — 

"  The  average  population  of  New  York  city  — 
including  its  temporary  visitors  —  is  probably  not 
less  than  1,000,000.  This  population  consumes  food 
equivalent  to  at  least  30,000,000  bushels  of  corn  in 
a  year.  Excepting  the  small  proportion  that  is 
stored  up  in  the  bodies  of  the  growing  young,  which 
is  fully  offset  by  that  contained  in  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  the  constituents  of  the  food  are  returned  to 
the  air  by  the  lungs  and  skin,  or  are  voided  as  ex- 
3rement.  That  which  goes  to  the  air  was  originally 
taken  from  the  air  by  vegetation,  and  will  be  so 
taken  again.  Here  is  no  waste.  The  excrement 
contains  all  that  was  furnished  by  the  mineral  ele 

1  "  Sewers  and  Earth-Closets,  and  their  Relation  to  Agriculture." 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       227 

ments  of  the  soil  on  which  the  food  was  produced. 
This  all  passes  into  the  sewers,  and  is  washed  into 
the  sea.  Its  loss,  to  the  present  generation,  is  com- 
plete. 

"  In  the  present  half -developed  condition  of  the 
world,  there  is  no  help  for  this.  The  first  duty  in 
all  towns  is  to  remove  from  the  vicinity  of  habita- 
tions all  matters  which,  by  their  decomposition, 
would  tend  to  produce  disease.  The  question  of 
health  is,  of  course,  of  the  first  importance,  and 
that  of  economy  must  follow  it ;  but  it  should  follow 
closely,  and  perfect  civilization  must  await  its  solu- 
tion. 

"  Thirty  million  bushels  of  corn  con tain  >  among 
other  minerals,  nearly  seven  thousand  tons  of  phos- 
phoric acid,  and  this  amount  is  annually  lost  in  the 
wasted  night-soil  of  New  York  city.1 

"  Practically,  the  human  excrement  of  the  whole 
country  is  nearly  all  so  disposed  of  as  to  be  lost  to 
the  soil.  The  present  population  of  the  United 
States  is  not  far  from  35,000,000.  On  the  basis  of 
the  above  calculation,  their  annual  food  contains 
over  200,000  tons  of  phosphoric  acid,  being  about 
the  amount  contained  in  900,000  tons  of  bones, 
which,  at  the  price  of  the  best  flour  of  bone  (for 

1  Other  mineral  constituents  of  food  —  important  ones,  too  —  are 
washed  away  in  even  greater  quar titles  through  the  same  channels;  but 
this  element  is  the  best  for  illustration,  because  its  effect  in  manure  is 
the  most  striking,  even  so  small  a  dress'.iig  as  twenty  pounds  per  acre 
producing  a  marked  effect  on  ill  cereal  crops.  Ammonia,  too,  which  is 
to  important  that  it  is  usual  in  Englanu  to  estimate  the  value  of  manure 
in  exact  proportion  to  its  supply  of  this  element,  is  largely  yi  jlded  by 
human  excrement. 


228       SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

manure),  would  be  worth  over  $50,000,000.  It 
would  be  a  moderate  estimate  to  say  that  the  other 
constituents  of  food  found  in  night-soil  are  of  at 
least  equal  value  with  the  other  constituents  of  the 
bone,  and  to  assume  $50,000,000  as  the  money  value 
of  the  wasted  night-soil  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  another  view,  the  importance  of  this  waste 
cannot  be  estimated  in  money.  Money  values  ap- 
ply, rather,  to  the  products  of  labor,  and  to  the  ex- 
change of  these  products.  The  waste  of  fertilizing 
matters  reaches  farther  than  the  destruction  or  ex- 
change of  products  —  it  lessens  the  ability  to  pro- 
duce. 

"  If  mill-streams  were  failing  year  by  year,  and 
steam  were  yearly  losing  force,  and  the  ability  of 
men  to  labor  were  yearly  growing  less,  the  doom  of 
our  prosperity  would  not  be  more  plainly  written 
than  if  the  slow  but  certain  impoverishment  of  our 
soil  were  sure  to  continue. 

"  Fortunately,  it  will  not  continue  always.  So 
long  as  there  are  virgin  soils,  this  side  of  the  Pacific, 
which  our  people  can  ravage  at  will,  thoughtless 
earth-robbers  will  move  West  and  '  till '  them.  But 
the  good  time  is  coming,  when  (as  now  in  China  and 
Japan)  men  must  accept  the  fact  that  the  soil  is  not 
a  warehouse  to  be  plundered  —  only  a  factory  to  be 
worked.  Then  they  will  save  their  raw  material, 
instead  of  wasting  it ;  and,  aided  by  nature's  won- 
derful loom,  will  weave,  over  and  over  again,  the 
fabric  by  which  we  live  and  prosper.  Men  will 
build  up  as  fast  as  men  destroy,  old  matters  will  b* 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       229 

reproduced  in  new  forms,  and,  as  the  decaying  for- 
ests feed  the  growing  wood,  so  will  all  consumed 
food  yield  food  again. 

"  The  stupendous  sewers  which  have  just  been 
completed  in  London  at  a  cost  of  $20,000,000,  and 
which  challenge  admiration  as  monuments  of  engi- 
neering achievement,  are  a  great  blessing  to  that 
filth-accursed  town,  and,  in  the  absence  of  anything 
better,  they  might,  with  advantage,  be  imitated 
elsewhere.  They  have  had  an  excellent  effect  on 
the  health  of  the  population,  by  removing  a  prolific 
cause  of  typhoid  fever  and  other  fatal  diseases.  As 
affording  needed  relief  from  malaria,  they  are  of  im- 
mense importance.  Still,  they  are  a  great  (although 
necessary)  evil,  inasmuch  as  they  wash  into  the  sea 
the  manurial  products  of  3,000,000  people,  to  sup- 
ply whom  with  food  requires  the  importation  of  im- 
mense quantities  of  grain  and  manure. 

"  The  wheat  market  of  one  half  the  world  is  reg- 
ulated by  the  demand  in  England.  She  draws  food 
from  the  Black  Sea  and  from  California ;  she  uses 
most  of  the  guano  of  the  Pacific  islands  ;  she  even 
ransacks  the  battle-fields  of  Europe  for  human 
bones,  from  which  to  make  fresh  bones  for  her  peo- 
ple ;  and,  in  spite  of  all  this,  her  food  is  scarce  and 
\righ,  and  bread-riots  break  out  in  her  towns. 

"  An  earnest  effort  is  now  being  made  to  use  the 
matters,  discharged  through  these  sewers  for  the  fer- 
tilizing of  the  lands  toward  the  eastern  coast.  For 
this  purpose,  it  is  intended  to  build  a  sewer,  forty 
miles  long  and  nine  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter 


230       SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

which,  with  the  incidental  expenses  of  its  construc- 
tion and  management,  will  cost  about  $10,000,000 
The  sewage  company  have  a  farm  at  Barking,  on 
which  they  have  experimented  very  successfully, 
one  acre  of  their  irrigated  meadows  having  produced 
nine  tons  of  Italian  rye  grass  in  twenty-two  days, 
and  fifty  tons  during  the  past  season  up  to  August 
15,  with  a  prospect  that  the  yield  for  the  whole 
season  will  be,  at  least,  seventy  tons  from  a  single 
acre. 

"  The  system  of  sewage  irrigation  has  earnest  ad- 
herents, and  equally  earnest  opposers.  It  does  seem 
a  pity  that,  for  every  pound  of  excrement  that  is 
given  to  the  land,  three  or  four  hundred  pounds  of 
water  must  go  with  it ;  and  it  is  probable  that  such 
highly  diluted  manure  can  be  used  with  advantage 
only  on  grass  crops.  It  is  further  asserted  that,  as 
the  best  results  can  be  obtained  only  by  the  applica- 
tion of  from  6,000  to  10,000  tons  of  the  liquid  per 
acre,  the  cost  of  the  process  must  prevent  its  gen- 
eral adoption.  However,  the  scheme  is  about  to  be 
thoroughly  tested,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  its 
success  will  be  such  as  to  secure  a  return  to  the  soil 
of  a  vast  amount  of  valuable  matter  which,  hitherto, 
has  been  worse  than  thrown  away. 

"  The  many  attempts  that  have  been  made  to  ex- 
tract the  fertilizing  parts  of  the  sewage  from  the 
deluge  of  water  with  which  they  are  diluted,  have 
entirely  failed  of  their  object.  If,  as  now  seems 
probable,  the  best  and  cheapest  way  to  remove 
Waste  matters  from  large  towns  is  by  dilution  i» 


THE   DRY   CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  231 

large  quantities  of  water,  the  efforts  of  agriculturists 
must  be  directed  to  the  best  means  of  making  use 
of  the  mixture." 

Wherever  I  have  used  either  the  earth  from  the 
closet  or  the  contents  of  my  filtering-casks,  the  ef- 
fect has  been  obviously  much  greater  than  it  would 
have  been  from  the  use  of  the  raw  material  alone. 
A  portion  of  the  improvement,  no  doubt,  is  due  to 
the  more  even  distribution  that  the  increased  bulk 
makes  possible  ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  attach  much 
greater  importance  to  a  suggestion  contained  in  an 
article  prepared  by  Colonel  Weld  for  the  "  Agricul- 
tural Annual  "  for  1870.  He  says  :  — 

"  Most  soils  contain  a  much  larger  quantity  of 
substances  required  by  the  plant  than  would  be 
available  in  several  years'  cropping.  These  are 
gradually  rendered  soluble  and  fit  for  plant-food  by 
weathering  year  by  year.  The  result  of  mingling  a 
soil  with  manure  which  is  undergoing  active  fer- 
mentation is  to  cause  decomposition  to  go  on  in  it 
more  rapidly,  and  so  it  is  certain  that  a  part  of  the 
benefit  arising  from  the  use  of  soil  as  an  absorbent 
in  stables  is  that  a  larger  supply  of  plant-food  is 
prepared  from  the  soil  and  distributed  with  the  ma- 
nure." 

Of  course  this  introduces  an  element  of  uncer- 
tainty into  the  calculation,  as  it  is  not  likely  that 
any  two  soils  would  yield  exactly  the  same  fertiliz- 
'ng  value  to  the  action  of  decomposing  manure  ;  but 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  any  earth  not  positively 


232   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

barren  will  be  very  beneficially  affected  by  the  active 
decomposition  of  fasces  and  urine  within  its  mass. 

The  same  article  contains  the  following  lucid 
statement  of  the  effect  of  earth  on  decomposing  or- 
ganic matter :  — 

"  The  earth-closet  depends  for  its  working  upon 
the  deodorizing  and  absorbing  qualities  of  dry  earth. 
The  earth  absorbs  moisture  because  it  is  dry  ;  it 
absorbs  odors,  both  on  account  of  its  chemical  nat- 
ure and  the  mechanical  arrangement  of  its  parti- 
cles. Earth  is  sometimes  considered  as  antiseptic, 
because  it  so  thoroughly  destroys  some  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  decay,  especially  evil  odors ;  but  it  really 
promotes  decay  very  energetically.  If  we  lift  a 
piece  of  cloth,  a  part  of  which  has  been  buried  by 
accident  for  a  few  days  or  weeks,  we  find  the  part 
under  the  earth  greatly  injured,  or  entirely  rotten, 
from  the  contact  of  earth  and  moisture.  Very  dry 
earth  is  somewhat  antiseptic  on  account  of  its  dry- 
ness. 

"  The  disorganization  or  decay  which  earth  pro- 
motes does  not  affect  living  organisms  of  either 
plants  or  animals.1  Hence,  seeds,  roots,  bulbs,  in- 
sect life,  and  the  eggs  of  many  birds,  reptiles,  and 
insects,  are  preserved,  if  buried  in  earth  of  natural 
dryness,  so  long  as  life  remains. 

"  The  purifying  and  deodorizing  properties  of  the 
Boil  are  familiar  to  almost  every  farmer  boy  in  the 

1  This  does  not  apply,  either  necessarily  or  very  probably,  to  the  lir 
bg  germs  of  infection  (if  such  germs  there  be),  as  these  seem  to  mnlb 
lly  only  under  the  influence  of  putrid  decomposition. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       233 

country.  A  very  slight  burying  prevents  the  odor 
of  a  decaying  carcass  being  noticeable  ;  a  thin  cover- 
ing of  earth  suffices  to  suppress  the  odors  of  a  fresh 
manure  heap  ;  and  the  most  disgusting  of  all  com- 
mon smells,  that  of  the  skunk,  may  be  entirely  re- 
moved from  articles  of  clothing,  or  other  things  con- 
taminated by  it,  by  burying  them  in  the  ground  a 
few  weeks  (of  course,  absolute  contact  of  the  earth 
with  the  garments  should  be  prevented,  or  they 
would  be  rendered  useless  through  decay)." 

There  is  one  consideration  connected  with  this 
branch  of  the  subject  which  is  of  even  greater  im- 
portance than  the  mere  money  value  of  the  single 
application  of  the  manure.  Our  present  system  is 
one  of  constant  waste.  We  draw  from  the  soil  a 
certain  amount  of  plant- food  with  every  crop  that 
we  grow.  In  so  far  as  the  crop  is  consumed  by 
man,  this  plant-food  is  practically  wasted.  In  the 
next  crop  that  the  land  produces,  fresh  elements  are 
required,  and  these,  in  their  turn,  are  thrown  away. 
And  so  we  go  on,  year  after  year,  always  drawing 
out  more  than  we  put  back,  to  the  extent  of  almost 
the  entire  food  of  our  population.  Of  course  much 
of  this  material  finds  its  way,  sooner  or  later,  to  the 
soil ;  for  even  that  which  is  washed  into  the  sea  may 
be  reclaimed  in  sea-weed  used  as  manure,  or  in  fish 
that  is  used  for  food.  But  as  a  broad  proposition, 
*t  may  be  assumed  that  practically  the  food  of  our 
population  returns  almost  nothing  to  the  soil. 

The  relief  that  the  earth-closet  offers  in  an  agri- 
cultural point  of  view  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the 


234     SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

limple  fact  that  it  furnishes  nutriment  to  the  crop 
to  which  the  manure  is  applied  ;  for  still  greater 
importance  attaches  to  the  permanent  benefit  to  the 
soil,  resulting  from  any  system,  by  which  all  that 
has  been  contributed  to  plants  is  surely  returned. 
Instead  of  removing  mineral  plant-food  with  every 
crop,  and  sending  it  to  the  four  corners  of  the  earth, 
these  mineral  matters  are  returned  in  a  form  suita- 
ble for  immediate  use.  The  crop  is  fed,  not  by  new 
contributions  from  the  soil,  but  by  the  very  mate- 
rial which  has  fed  previous  crops.  The  same  ele- 
ments may  be  used  over  and  over  again  ad  infini- 
tum.1  At  the  same  time,  the  action  of  the  weather 
upon  the  soil,  the  action  of  the  feeding-roots  of 
plants  on  the  surfaces  of  its  particles,  and  the  power 
of  organic  matters  (both  the  added  manure  and  the 
decaying  roots  of  previous  crops)  to  develop  latent 
fertilizing  elements  of  the  earth,  all  tend  to  add, 
year  by  year,  to  the  active  fertility  of  the  land. 

DR.  VOELCKER  ON  THE  VALUE  OF  EARTH-CLOSET 

MANURE. 

In  1872,  Dr.  Voelcker,  chemist  to  the  Royal  Ag- 
ricultural Society  of  England,  contributed  to  its 
Journal  (2d  Series,  vol.  viii.)  a  carefully  considered 
essay  on  this  subject.  The  following  quotations 
will  show  the  very  favorable  light  in  which  he  re- 
gards the  system  generally,  and  the  small  value  he 
attaches  to  its  product. 

1  Of  course,  It  may  or  may  not  be  the  identical  elements  it  has  pr» 
riously  yielded  which  are  returned  to  a  given  field,  and  it  is  not  mate 
4al  tc  the  argument  whether  it  be  these  or  their  equivalent. 


THE   DRY'  CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  231 

"  In  the  country  —  in  small  county  towns,  and 
in  isolated  establishments,  such  as  county  prisons, 
workhouses,  and  asylums  —  the  disposal  of  human 
excretal  matters  presents  no  great  difficulty ;  but 
their  removal  from  towns  is  generally  attended  with 
considerable  expense,  no  matter  what  particular  sys- 
tem the  authorities  may  adopt.  By  degrees  the 
town  authorities  are  learning  the  disagreeable  les- 
son that  materials  which  are  excellent  fertilizers 
when  safely  incorporated  with  the  soil  are  a  nui- 
sance in  a  town,  and  cause  expenses  that  are  all  the 
greater  the  more  completely  the  plan  of  removal  ac- 
cords with  the  requirements  of  civilization 

Nothing  effects  so  complete  and  rapid  a  deodoriza- 
tion  and  disinfection  of  putrid  animal  matter  of 
every  kind,  as  a  well  aerated  soil. 

"  Bousingault  has  shown  that  there  is  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  oxygen  in  the  air  condensed  between  the 
particles  of  a  porous  soil  than  in  the  atmosphere 
above  the  land.  In  the  condensed  condition  in 
which  oxygen  exists  in  a  porous  soil,  it  no  doubt 
acts  much  more  powerfully  in  oxidizing  organic 
matters  than  the  free  oxygen  of  the  air 

"  There  is  no  oxidizing  agent  equal  to  a  porous 
soil,  which  is  always  at  hand  in  almost  unlimited 
quantities,  and  equally  effective  in  destroying  an- 
imal effluvia,  and  the  permanently  prejudicial  prop- 
erties of  excrementitious  matter  of  every  descrip- 
tion. Few  axioms  are  so  true  as  that  which 
enforces  the  propriety  of  returning  to  the  land  the 
\ertilizing  materials  which  are  removed  from  it  in 
the  produce.  In  other  words  the  nuisance  of  a 


236      SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

town  population  ought  to  be  utilized  on  the  land  for 
the  production  of  food. 

"  Mr.  Moule  has  the  merit  of  having  given  to  the 
public  a  simple  and  ingeniously  contrived  apparatus, 
which  is  capable  of  doing  good  service  in  many 
places  ;  more  especially  in  sick  rooms,  public  estab- 
lishments such  as  county  prisons  and  unions,  and 
country  houses,  where  a  good  supply  of  water  cannot 
be  commanded  ;  and  credit  is  due  to  him  for  having 
pointed  out  the  repeated  action,  and  consequently 
the  fitness  for  repeated  use  of  the  same  earth. 

"  Where  the  earth  required  for  absorption  can 
be  readily  procured  in  a  dried  and  sifted  state,  and 
the  land  for  the  utilization  of  the  compost  is  in  close 
proximity,  the  earth-closet  system  recommends  it- 
self as  a  thoroughly  efficient  plan  of  disposing  of 
human  excreta  and  the  utilization  of  their  fertilizing 
constituents  at  the  smallest  expense  and  in  some 
cases  even  with  economy." 

Composition  of  a  sample  of  earth-closet  manure; 
used  four  times  in  succession,  and  dried  :  — 

Moisture  (loss  on  drying  at  212'  Fahr.)  .  .  1.49 
•Organic  matter  and  water  of  combination  .  .  6.56 
Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina  .....  14.57 
Tribasic  phosphate  of  lime  (bone-phosphate)  .  .1.46 

Carbonate  of  lime 9.47 

Magnesia 2.20 

Potash 1.31 

Chloride  of  sodium 82 

Insoluble  silicious  matter  (clay)      ....      62.12 

100.00 

•Containing  nitrogen 39 

Equal  to  ammonia 47 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      23T 

As  an  illustration  of  the  practical  working  of  the 
lystem  on  a  large  scale,  he  gives  the  following  ex- 
tract of  a  letter  from  Captain  Arraytage,  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  West  Riding  Prison,  Wakefield,  where 
as  many  as  776  earth-closets  were  in  use,  the  system 
having  been  first  introduced  in  the  summer  of  1866. 

"  We  use  the  ordinary  Moule's  closet,  or  a  still 
simpler  box,  where  the  earth  is  applied  out  of  a 
small  scoop  by  hand,  instead  of  the  self-acting  ma- 
chinery of  Moule's  closets,  which,  with  ordinary 
care,  acts  very  well.  You  must  be  aware  what  class 
of  men  and  women  we  have  to  deal  with  in  working 
out  experiments ;  and  I  can  only  say  that,  after 
more  than  three  years,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  dry- 
earth  plan  is  the  only  sound  system  that  can  be 
worked  out,  especially  among  the  lower  classes  and 
in  towns,  my  principle  being  to  keep  all  sediments 
out  of  the  drains.  The  urine  now  is  collected  into 
tanks,  and  is  sold,  or  used  for  manuring  the  ground, 
or  is  thrown  upon  the  earth  compost.  We  find  an 
absence  of  all  smells,  that  formerly  were  quite  over- 
powering; and  even  in  the  manipulating  shed  no 
smell  can  be  discerned,  except  at  the  time  of  turn- 
ing the  compost,  and  then  the  smell  perceptible  in 
the  shed  is  more  that  of  a  Peruvian  guano-shed  than 
anything  else." 

It  appears  that :  "  In  the  course  of  the  year  from 
fifty  to  sixty  tons  of  earth-manure  are  obtained, 
which  is  chiefly  used  on  the  prison  grounds.  In 
1870,  about  twelve  tons  were  sold  at  XI  per  ton, 
when  the  earth  was  once  used  ;  £ 2  when  twice  used, 


238      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

and  <£3  thrice  used.  It  has  had  remarkable  succesa 
in  growing  onions,  and  has  been  used  with  advan- 
tage for  potatoes,  vegetables,  and  garden  produce  in 
general.  Half  a  ton  per  acre  of  the  earth  used  once 
in  the  closets  has  also  been  successfully  applied  to 
grass  land,  and  one  ton  per  acre  produced  two  tons, 
three  cwt.  of  hay.  In  a  second  experiment,  one  too 
of  the  earth  manure  (once  used),  produced  two  tons, 
two  cwt.  of  hay." 

In  Voelcker's  further  chemical  investigation  of 
this  subject  there  is  given  the  following  analysis 
made  by  Dr.  Gilbert :  — 


EARTH. 

Before  use. 

Using  once. 

Using  twice. 

Percentage  of  moisture  in  air 
dried  and  sifted  soil  (loss  at  210  ° 
Fah.)  

8.440 

9.970 

7.710 

Percentage  of  nitrogen  in    air 

067 

216 

353 

Percentage  of  nitrogen  in  soil 
dried  at  212  3  Fahr 

.073 

.240 

.383 

On  the  strength  of  which,  it  is  stated  that : 
**  earth  passed  three  times  through  the  closet,  in  a 
perfectly  dry  state,  was  worth  only  6s.  2%d.  more 
per  ton  than  dry  garden  mold  of  the  composition 
of  the  soil  employed  in  the  experiments." 

In  support  of  his  opinion  that  the  value  of  human 
excrements  has  always  been  popularly  overestimated, 
Dr.  Voelcker  adduces  the  following  :  — 

"  In  1864,  the  Prussian  government  commissioned 
Messrs.  C.  v.  Salviati,  O.  Roder,  and  Dr.  Eichhorn 


THE  DRY   CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  239 

to  investigate  the  modes  of  collection,  removal,  and 
utilization,  in  various  continental  towns ;  and  in 
their  report,  the  Prussian  commissioners,  who  visited 
various  towns  in  Belgium,  France  and  Germany, 
showed  not  only  that  the  householders  seldom  real- 
ized anything  like  a  franc  per  head  per  annum  for 
their  excretal  matter,  but  that,  in  the  majority  of 
fcowns,  they  had  to  pay  something  for  the  removal. 
It  is  surprising  that  in  the  face  of  the  reports  of  in- 
dividuals who  have  investigated  the  subject  on  the 
spot,  and  in  spite  of  reliable  official  reports,  embody- 
ing the  results  of  personal  observations,  arid  dealing 
with  plain  matters  of  fact,  many  people  should  still 
give  credence  to  the  unwarranted  statement  that  in 
Belgium  excretal  matters  are  sold  at  <£!  per  head 
per  annum,  and  that  most  continental  towns  derive 
a  more  or  less  considerable  income  from  the  sale  and 
utilization  of  human  excreta.  In  the  endeavor  to 
correct  the  erroneous  and  exaggerated  notions  which 
not  a  few  persons  entertain  with  regard  to  the 
money  value  of  human  excrements,  I  have  purposely 
confined  myself  to  a  statement  of  facts,  which  every 
one  may  verify  who  will  take  the  trouble  to  visit 
continental  towns  and  make  inquiry  into  the  man- 
ner in  which  human  excreta  are  disposed  of,  and 
what  is  realized  by  the  towns  by  their  utilization. 
The  practical  conclusion  to  which  an  unbiassed  in- 
quirer into  this  subject  will  arrive  is  that,  as  far  as 
the  inhabitants  of  towns  are  concerned,  human  ex- 
creta are  a  nuisance,  for  the  removal  of  which,  in 
most  towns  they  have  to  pay  something. 


240      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND    TOWNS. 

"  Speaking  generally,  solid  human  excreta,  aa 
they  leave  the  body,  contain  one  fourth  of  dry  matter 
and  three  fourths  of  water.  The  dry  matter  con- 
tains about  l£  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  1  per  cent, 
of  phosphoric  acid. 

"  If  it  were  possible  to  dry  faeces  without  loss  in 
fertilizing  matters,  and  without  the  addition  of 
bulky  material,  they  would,  in  a  dry  state,  be  a  very 
valuable  manure,  for  in  that  state  they  would  con- 
tain :  — 

•Organic  matter 88.52 

Insoluble  silicious  matter 1.48 

Oxide  of  iron 54 

»  Lime 1.72 

Magnesia 1.55 

Phosphoric  acid 4.27 

Sulphuric  acid 24 

Potash 1.19 

Soda 31 

Chloride  of  sodium .18 

100.00 

•Containing  nitrogen 6.00 

Equal  to  ammonia 7.28 

"  It  appears  from  the  preceding  figures  that,  in  a 
perfectly  dry  condition,  two  tons  of  solid  human  ex- 
creta are  worth  almost  as  much  as  one  ton  of  Peru- 
vian guano ;  and  it  seems  a  great  pity  that  a  ma- 
nure possessing  such  a  fertilizing  value  should  be 
wasted  as  at  present  it  is  in  a  great  measure. 

"  Still  more  valuable  as  a  manure  is  human  urine, 
for  its  principal  constituent  —  urea — contains  nearly 
fifty  per  cent,  of  nitrogen ;  and  uric  acid —  an  active 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      241 

constituent  of  urine — contains  about  thirjy- three 
per  cent,  of  nitrogen  ;  and  besides  these  nitrogenous 
organic  matters,  human  urine  contains  a  good  deal 

of  phosphoric  acid 

"  Fresh  urine  contains,  on  an  average  only  three 
per  cent,  of  solid  matter,  and,  according  to  Professor 
Way's  analysis  just  quoted,  consists  of:  — 

Water 97.000 

•Organic  matter  .  ...  2.026 

Insoluble  silicious  matter 003 

Oxide  of  iron .002 

Lime 018 

Magnesia .014 

Phosphoric  acid 040 

Sulphuric  acid .014 

Potash 055 

Chloride  of  potassium 162 

Chloride  of  sodium .  ...       .566 


100.000 
•Containing  nitrogen    ......  .58 

Equal  to  ammonia .71 

"  Notwithstanding  this  large  proportion  of  water, 
the  amount  of  solid  matter  in  the  urine  voided  in  <i 
day  is  just  about  one  third  greater  than  the  amount 
of  dry  matter  in  the  daily  solid  evacuations.  It  is 
not  easy  to  calculate  with  great  precision  what  is 
the  total  amount  of  faeces  and  urine  which  is  pro- 
duced by  a  mixed  population  of  adults  and  children 
of  both  sexes ;  but  it  may  be  safely  stated  that  the 
amount  of  dry  matter  in  the  solid  and  liquid  excreta 
of  a  mixed  population  does  not  exceed  fifty-six 
pounds  per  head,  per  annum,  and  that  probably  it  ia 
not  more  than  forty-five  or  forty-six  pounds 

u  On  calculating  the  amount  of  ammonia  which 


242      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

will  be  produced  on  the  decomposition  of  the  dry 
matter  of  the  solid  and  liquid  excrements  of  each 
person  per  annum,  we  obtain  from  the 

Ammonia' 

83  Ibs.  of  dry  matter  contained  in  the  solid  excreta  .  .  1.60  Ibs. 
And  in  34  Ibs.  of  dry  matter  contained  in  the  liquid  excreta  8.12  Ibs. 

Or  altogether 9.72  Ibs. 

"  In  other  words,  five  sixths  of  the  ammonia  ca- 
pable of  being  generated  on  the  decomposition  of 
human  excreta  is  furnished  by  the  urine.  By  a 
similar  calculation  I  find  that,  according  to  the  pre- 
ceding data,  each  individual  would  furnish  about 
5£  Ibs.  of  phosphates  per  annum.  For  simplicity's 
sake  we  may  assume  that  each  person  of  a  popula- 
tion produces  in  the  solid  and  liquid  excreta  56  Ibs. 
of  dry  matter  per  annum.  These  56  Ibs.  produce 
in  round  numbers  10  Ibs.  of  ammonia,  and  o£  Ibs. 
of  phosphates. 

"  In  order  to  avoid  the  appearance  of  a  wish  to 
undervalue  the  intrinsic  fertilizing  value  of  human 
excreta,  I  would  allow  9d.  per  Ib.  for  ammonia,  and 
2d.  per  Ib.  for  phosphates,  and  further  9<£.  for  the 
money-value  of  the  remaining  constituents,  which  is 
rather  more  than  the  latter  are  really  worth. 

"  The  excreta  of  each  person  of  a  population  ac- 
cordingly would  be  worth  per  annum  9s.  ($2.16 
gold),  allowing  for  — 

10  Ibs.  ammonia  at  9d.  per  Ib. 7*.  M . 

5^  Ibs.  of  phosphates  at  2d.  per  Ib.                                .  0  11 

Other  matters 07 

Total  value  of  human  excreta  per  head  per  annum       .  ft  0 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      243 

"  Bearing  in  mind  that  five  sixths  of  the  total 
amount  of  ammonia  in  the  solid  and  liquid  excreta 
of  man  are  furnished  by  the  urine,  and  only  one 
sixth  by  the  faeces,  and  how  small  is  the  proportion 
of  the  total  urine  that  is  passed  at  the  same  time, 
and  that  our  domestic  habits  prevent  the  collection 
and  absorption  of  the  whole  of  the  urine,  the  intrin- 
sic value  of  the  fertilizing  matters  which  can  be 
practically  recovered  in  Moule's  earth-closet,  is  prob- 
ably not  more  than  one  third  of  their  value,  or 
amounts  to  only  3s.  for  each  person  per  annum.  In 
order  to  recover  these  three  shilling's  worth  of  ma- 
nuring matters,  a  large  quantity  of  earth  has  to  be 
used  in  Moule's  closet. 

"  Assuming  that  the  total  excreta  of  a  man  can 
be  absorbed  by  the  earth  without  loss,  and  that 
they  possess  an  average  value  of  9s.  per  annum,  each 
ton  of  earth  used  five  times  in  the  closet  will  be 
worth  22s.  Qd. ;  but  as,  practically,  about  two 
thirds  of  the  fertilizing  matters  will  be  wasted  in 
the  urine,  which  cannot  be  recovered  and  absorbed 
by  earth,  the  value  of  a  ton  of  earth-closet  manure 
used  five  times  will  only  be  about  7s.  6c?." 

This  paper  has  such  scientific  importance  and  is 
justly  entitled  to  so  much  respect  on  the  part  of  all 
who  know  Dr.  Voelcker's  most  efficient  services  in 
the  cause  of  improved  agriculture,  that  no  full  state- 
ment of  the  system  can  be  made  without  full  and 
faithful  reference  to  his  essay. 

The  correctness  of  his  estimate  it  would  be  dangei 


244   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

ous  to  doubt.  If  accepted  as  final  it  simply  states, 
more  in  detail,  the  general  proposition  that  with  the 
earth  system,  as  with  all  others,  the  incentive  must 
be  a  sanitary  rather  than  a  commercial  one,  and 
those  who  still  hold  to  the  great  agricultural  value 
of  earth-closet  manure,  however  much  discourage- 
ment they  may  receive  at  the  hands  of  chemists, 
will  have  to  fall  back  upon  the  many  instances  of 
results  from  its  practical  use,  which  seem  to  be  far 
beyond  what  its  theoretical  composition  would  ac- 
count for. 

This  paper  suggests  the  proposition  in  agricult- 
ural chemistry  that,  just  as  the  nitrogenous  prod- 
ucts of  organic  decay  are  consumed  by  the  action  of 
aerated  charcoal,  so  are  they  consumed  by  a  similar 
action  of  aerated  earth  (or  other  dry  and  porous 
material)  and  that  —  in  this  regard  —  there  may  be 
a  loss  of  organic  elements  of  fertility  in  the  process 
of  "  summer  fallowing,"  —  a  loss  that  is  compen- 
sated for  by  a  certain  gain,  but  a  loss  nevertheless. 

MOTTLE'S  APPARATUS. 

The  original,apparatus  devised  by  Mr.  Moule  is 
manufactured  by  a  successful  company  in  London, 
who  have,  as  experience  has  suggested  modifications, 
added  a  variety  of  forms  and  several  improvements, 
which  have  greatly  extended  the  scope  of  the  sys- 
tem. 

Precisely  what  the  earth-closet  and  its  accesso- 
ries, as  now  contrived,  accomplish,  is  the  following 

A  comfortable  closet  on  any  floor  of  the  house 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      245 

lupplied  with  earth,  and  cleansed  of  its  deposits 
without  the  intervention  or  knowledge  of  any  mem 
ber  of  the  household ; 


Figure  17.  —  The  Commode.    This  is  a  "  self-contained  "  closet. 

A  portable  commode  in  any  dressing-room,  bed- 
room, or  closet,  the  care  of  which  is  no  more  disa- 
greeable than  is  that  of  an  ordinary  fireplace ; 

Appliances   for   the   use  of  immovable   invalids 


246   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

which  entirely  remove  the   distressing   accompani- 
ments of  their  care  ;  and 

The  complete   and  effectual  removal  of  all  the 
liquid  wastes  of  sleeping-rooms  and  kitchen  ;  and 


Figure  18. 

The  complete  suppression  of  the  odors  which, 
despite  the  comfort  and  elegance  of  modern  living, 
still  hang  about  our  cess-pools  and  privy-vaults,  and 
attend  the  removal  of  their  contents. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      247 

The  simplest  form  of  Moule's  apparatus  is  the 
portable  commode  shown  in  Figure  17,  which  ia 
adapted  for  use  in  any  room  or  closet,  and  which 
with  only  ordinary  care  is  as  inoffensive  in  odor 
\nd  as  convenient  and  little  disagreeable  in  atten- 
tion as  a  common  anthracite  stove. 

The  arrangement  of  the  mechanism  of  this  com- 
mode is  shown  in  Figure  18. 

A,  is  a  swinging  hopper,  capable  of  holding  an 
ordinary  coal-hod  full  of  earth ;  B  is  the  "  chucker  " 
which  on  being  tilted  by  lifting  the  handle  H, 
throws  forward  the  proper  quantity  of  earth  into 
the  moveable  hod  standing  under  the  seat.  When 
the  handle  is  released  the  chucker  drops  back  into 
the  position  shown  in  the  cut,  and  is  filled  from  the 
hopper  which  enters  its  top,  its  mouth  being  at  the 
same  time  closed  by  the  shelf  J,  suspended  beneath 
it.  The  commode  should  be  supplied  with  two 
hods,  the  one  not  in  use  being  exposed  to  the  air 
during  the  time  that  it  is  waiting.  When  fresh 
earth  is  needed  for  the  hopper  it  is  carried  to  it  in 
this  dry  hod,  which  after  being  emptied,  is  substi- 
tuted for  the  filled  one  under  the  seat. 

An  apparatus  for  more  regular  use,  —  for  a  fixed 
closet  where  the  circumstances  allow  of  the  con- 
gtruction,  — is  shown  in  Figure  19. 

There  is  a  considerable  reservoir  for  earth  built 
ap  above  the  level  of  the  top  of  the  hopper,  —  my 
^wn  holds  from  four  to  six  weeks'  supply.  In  lieu 
*f  a  moveable  hod,  there  is  fixed  beneath  the  seat, 
reaching  thiough  an  opening  in  the  floor,  a  gal  van- 


Figure  19. — Apparatus  with  valved  funnel. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       249 

ized  iron  funnel  closed  at  the  bottom  with  a  move- 
able  valve.  This  funnel-mouth  opens  into  a  twelve 
inch  galvanized  iron  pipe  which  passes  to  the  recep- 
tacle in  a  cellar  or  room  below.  In  my  own  case 
the  closet  on  the  main  floor  of  the  house  delivers 
through  a  short  pipe  into  the  top  of  a  tight  brick 
vault  three  feet  square  and  seven  feet  high.  This 
vault  is  closed  over  with  brick  work  at  the  top, 
being  plastered  close  around  the  pipe  so  that  there 
shall  be  no  opportunity  for  an  escape  of  its  air  into 
the  cellar  or  into  the  closet  above.  In  a  new  con- 
struction, I  should,  as  a  further  precaution,  provide 
some  means  for  ventilating  this  vault,  but  we  have 
experienced  no  inconvenience  from  it  in  its  present 
condition,  and  as  there  is  always  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  earth  within  it  I  can  imagine  no  danger  from 
it. 

The  closet  on  the  second  floor  is  arranged  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  manner,,  save  that  the  connecting 
pipe  is  long  enough  to  reach  through  from  this  floor 
to  the  top  of  a  vault  in  the  cellar,  —  about  twelve 
feet.  Each  of  these  cellar  vaults  has  a  small  man- 
hole in  the  brick  work  (with  timber  header  and 
sill),  which  is  loosely  bricked  up  and  then  well 
coated  with  mortar  on  the  outside.  The  vaults  have 
to  be  emptied  about  three  -times  in  the  year,  when 
these  loose  bricks  are  knocked  out  to  give  access,  — 
the  opening  being  plastered  up  again  as  soon  as  the 
work  is  done. 

The  only  objection  that  has  at  any  time  been  found 
»<o  this  arrangement  was  due  to  the  fact  that  owing 


250      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

to  its  conical  form,  the  funnel,  when  full,  does  not 
empty  itself  without  help.  This  objection  is  en- 
tirely obviated  by  making  it  the  duty  of  one  of 
the  users  to  pull  the  dumping  handle  at  least  onco 
every  day,  —  the  smaller  accumulation  discharging 
itself  freely.  There  is  the  further  advantage  in  this 
that  the  deposits  are  thus  always  at  a  depth  to  be 
most  perfectly  reached  and  covered  by  the  falling 
earth. 

In  my  own  case,  no  earth  has  been  brought  to  the 
house  for  three  years.  During  this  time  we  have 
used  over  and  over  again  the  same  material,  which 
consists  almost  entirely  of  anthracite  ashes.  When 
the  vaults  are  emptied,  their  contents  are  simply 
heaped  up  in  the  cellar,  where  they  become  suf- 
ficiently dry,  after  a  month  or  so,  to  be  used  again. 
Much  of  this  accumulation  has  passed  through  the 
closet,  at  least  ten  or  twelve  times.  Under  no  cir- 
cumstances has  there  been  any  indication  that  it 
is  anything  but  ashes,  with  a  slight  admixture  of 
garden  soil.  In  my  case,  the  earth-closet  system  is 
entirely  free  from  any  complication. 

A  simple  form  of  earth-privy  is  shown  in  Figure 
20. 

Figure  21  shows  an  arrangement  by  which  closets 
on  different  floors,  against  the  outer  wall  of  a  house, 
may  be  supplied  and  emptied  from  an  outside  shaft 
and  vault.  The  earth  is  hoisted  and  discharged 
into  the  reservoirs  from  without.  The  boxes  which 
receive  the  deposits  and  their  covering  of  earth  are 
tilted  outward  into  the  shafts. 


Figure  30.  —  Section  of  vaulted  pri^y.    To  be  supplied  and  emptied 
from  the  rear. 


figure  91       Plan  of  closets  on  two  floors,  with  hoist  and  dump. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      253 

The  earth-closets  at  Fort  Adams  (Newport), 
arected  for  the  use  of  the  garrison,  are  constructed 
as  shown  in  Figure  22.  The  deposits  are  received 
on  the  concreted  floor  of  the  casemate  in  which  the 
closets  are  placed.  The  same  plan —  with  divisions 
between  the  seats  —  is  well  adapted  for  the  use  of 
schools,  asylums,  etc. 

Mr.  Netten  Radcliffe,  in  1869,  made  a  careful 
investigation  of  the  earth-closet  system  in  practical 
use  in  various  parts  of  England,  in  connection  with 
Dr.  Buchanan.  Their  comprehensive  and  satisfac- 
tory report  was  published  in  connection  with  the 
Twelfth  Report  of  Mr.  John  Simon,  medical  officer 
of  the  Privy  Council. 

In  1874,  Mr.  Netten  Radcliffe  alone  made  an  ex- 
amination of  the  privy  system  generally,  and  again 
inquired  into  the  condition  of  the  earth-system,  — 
communicating  the  result  of  his  investigations  in 
connection  with  Mr.  Simon's  Report  of  that  year. 
After  this  wide  observation,  he  says,  without  quali- 
fication :  "  As  a  means  of  abating  excrement  nui- 
sances the  dry-earth  system  is  of  the  utmost  value." 
And  again  :  "Of  the  value  of  dry  earth  as  a  means 
of  abating  excrement-nuisance,  no  question,  I  pre- 
sume, now  exists ;  and  its  application  in  detail  to 
this  purpose  has  been  facilitated  to  the  utmost  by 
the  ingenious  mechanical  arrangements  devised  and 
patented  by  Mr.  Moule  and  Mr.  Girdlestone  (the 
engineer  of  Moule's  Earth-Closet  Company).  These 
irrangements,  which  provide  for  proper  charges  of 
dry  earth  being  thrown  upon  the  deposited  excre- 


Figure  22. 


THE  DBY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      256 

nient,  admit  of  ready  adoption  of  the  system  in 
houses,  schools,  and  other  institutions. 

"  Since  Dr.  Buchanan's  inquiry,  the  system  in  its 
integrity  has  been  adopted  in  many  mansions  and 
on  numerous  estates,  as  well  as  in  not  a  few  public 
and  private  institutions.  The  wider  experience  of 
its  use  under  these  circumstances  does  not  differ  in 
result  from  that  which  has  already  been  recorded 
by  Dr.  Buchanan,  and  it  would  serve  no  useful  pur- 
pose to  enter  into  a  detailed  examination  here  of 
the  different  instances  which  came  under  observa- 
tion during  this  inquiry.  So  far  as  my  observation 
went,  wherever  the  system  had  been  diligently  ap- 
plied and  carried  out,  and  due  supervision  over  its 
working  had  been  maintained,  there  its  success  in 
the  abatement  of  nuisance  from  and  the  disposal 
of  excrement  had  been  assured.  Where  the  system 
had  been  adopted  without  due  regard  to  the  amount 
and  kind  of  labor  at  disposal  and  the  amount  of 
supervision  which  would  be  secured,  there  it  had 
failed,  under  like  circumstances 

"  At  Sinningrove,  a  village  on  the  sea-coast,  at 
the  foot  of  the  Cleveland  Hills,  and  adjoining  the 
Lofthouse  iron-ore  mines,  I  saw  sixty-six  earth  - 
closets  in  operation.  The  mines  are  the  property 
of  Messrs.  Pease,  of  Darlington,  and  the  earth- 
closets  had  been  introduced  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 
France  the  manager.  The  closets,  of  which  the 
mechanism  had  been  constructed  by  Moule's  Earth- 
Closet  Company,  were  in  excellent  order,  and  the 
tarth  supplied  to  them,  a  clayey  soil  obtained  from 


256      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

the  foundation  of  buildings,  had  been  carefully  dried 
in  a  proper  kiln  erected  for  the  pnrpose.  A  few  of 
the  closets  had  lever-seats,  in  others  the  earth  was 
cast  from  the  hopper  upon  the  excrement  by  a 
handle  acting  upon  a  simply  arranged  "  chucker." 
A  man  was  detailed  to  prepare  the  earth  and  keep 
the  hoppers  supplied  ;  and  an  arrangement  had  been 
made  with  neighboring  farmers  to  remove  the  con- 
tents of  the  closets  once  in  every  three  weeks.  No 
iifficulty  had  been  experienced  in  making  this  ar- 
rangement ;  indeed,  the  farmers,  it  was  told  me, 
very  gladly  undertook  the  task  for  the  value  of  the 
manure,  and  further,  they  had  agreed  to  supply 
earth  for  the  use  of  the  closets  when  that  obtained 
from  new  buildings  failed.  An  inspection  of  the 
closets  showed  that  the  users  had  not  habituated 
themselves  to  putting  the  mechanism  in  action  after 
use,  and  that  in  consequence  in  some,  although  the 
hoppers  were  full  of  earth,  the  excrement  was  un- 
covered. This,  however,  appeared  to  have  arisen 
rather  from  an  oversight  in  the  management  than 
from  any  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the  cottagers 
to  use  the  closets  properly.  It  had  been  too  readily 
assumed  that  the  population  for  whom  the  closets 
were  designed  would  take  to  their  use  without  some 
instructional  supervision.  The  advantages  of  tho 
closet,  as  compared  with  the  old-fashioned  midden 
closet  were,  however,  so  obvious,  even  in  the  state 
that  I  saw  them,  that  Mr.  Frarce  was  about  to  in- 
troduce two  hundred  in  a  new  mining  village  then 
in  process  of  being  built  on  the  hills  above  Sinnin 
grove." 


THE  DRY   CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.  257 

He  also  visited  some  large  collieries  which  had 
been  supplied  with  apparatus  by  the  Moule  com- 
pany. These  are  supplied  with  surface  earth  which 
is  dried  only  under  a  shed,  where  it  is  occasionally 
turned  over.  These  closets  were  found  to  be  in  a 
satisfactory  condition. 

"  The  several  cottagers  to  whom  I  spoke  on  the 
subject  were,  with  one  exception,  enthusiastic  in 
their  preference  for  the  earth-closet  as  compared 
with  the  old  rnidden  closet,  and  more  than  one 
spoke  of  its  greater  decency,  and  of  the  influence  of 
this  upon  the  habits  of  growing  children." 

At  Hereford,  as  in  other  cases  investigated,  it 
seemed  sufficient  to  gather  surface  soil  in  dry 
weather,  store  it  in  suitable  places,  and  use  it  with- 
out further  artificial  drying. 

Mr.  Radcliff  e  concludes  :  — 

"  It  must  not  be  too  hastily  assumed  that  the 
very  fact  of  no  local  authority  having  adopted,  of  its 
own  motion,  the  dry-earth  system  during  the  sev- 
eral years  it  has  been  before  the  public,  is  decisive 
against  its  adaptability  to  public  requirements  as  to 
excrement  disposal.  The  truth  is,  that  only  now 
does  such  a  local  sanitary  organization  exist  as  would 
admit  of  its  application  in  those  villages  and  towns 
where  presumably  the  system  is  best  fitted  for  opera- 
tion. Before  the  Public  Health  Act,  1872,  the  sani- 
tary organization  of  rural  districts  and  of  many  small 
towns  was  too  incomplete  to  give  any  reasonable 
hope  of  the  efficient  working  of  a  system,  whether 
the  dry  earth  or  any  other,  which  required  careful 
17 


258      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES    *ND   TOWNS. 

and  systematic  supervision  and  management.  Since 
the  passing  of  that  act,  an  organization,  fitted  tc 
these  ends,  has  either  been  established,  or  is  in  prog- 
ress of  establishment,  in  every  part  of  the  kingdom. 
It  is,  perhaps,  even  more  necessary  now  than  when 
Dr.  Buchanan  reported,  that  sanitary  authorities,  in 
examining  the  sanitary  requirements  of  their  dis- 
tricts, should  have  under  their  consideration  the 
dry-earth  system,  among  other  systems  of  dealing 
with  excrement  nuisances. 

"  I  have  already  mentioned  the  great  value  as- 
signed to  the  earth-closet  manure  by  certain  gentle- 
men, who  are  well  acquainted  with  its  practical  use. 
This  opinion,  held  also  when  Dr.  Buchanan  made 
his  inquiry,  has  undergone  no  change,  but  has  been 
confirmed  by  the  five  years'  additional  experience 
since  that  inquiry  took  place.  On  the  other  hand, 
Drs.  Gilbert  and  Voelcker,  studying  the  question 
chemically,  have  shown  that  the  earth-closet  ma- 
nure after  it  has  been  charged  twice,  or  even  thrice, 
with  excrement,  is  no  richer  than  good  garden 
mold. 

"  Mr.  Walters,  as  I  have  stated,  gets  £6  a  ton  for 
the  manure  retailed  in  small  quantities,  and  I  may 
add,  that  he  believes  this  sum  fairly  represents  the 
value  of  the  material.  Dr.  Voelcker  estimates  the 
value  of  the  compost  after  it  has  been  charged  five 
times  with  excrement,  at  Is.  Qd.  per  ton.  I  cannot 
pretend  to  reconcile  the  differences ;  I  merely  stato 
the  facts.  But  it  may  be  observed  that  the  chemi- 
cal estimate  of  the  value  of  earth-closet  manure, 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.       259 

does  not  disprove  the  sanitary  value  of  the  dry-earth 
system,  but,  so  far  as  it  may  be  the  true  index  of 
value,  only  tends  to  show  that  its  economical  adap- 
tation must  be  limited  to  cottages  and  small  towns, 
where  the  cost  of  providing  and  drying  the  earth, 
and  distribution  of  the  manure,  will  be  of  the  small- 
est. 

"  On  this  question  the  Committee  1  on  the  Treat- 
ment and  Utilization  of  Sewage,  appointed  by  the 
British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
*ias  said,  as  to  houses  and  villages  (again  looking  at 
the  value  as  a  matter  to  be  estimated  by  chemical 
analysis),  that  the  dry-earth  system  "  might  be 
even  economical  where  the  earth  for  preparation  and 
absorption,  and  the  land  for  utilization,  are  in  close 
proximity." 

"  Without  desiring  to  underrate  the  commercial 
aspects  of  the  question,  it  appears  to  me,  that  it  is 
the  economical  aspect  in  the  sense  of  obtaining  an 
unquestioned  good  at  the  least  cost,  which  has  place 
here.  If  the  value  of  a  method  of  excrement  dis- 
posal is  to  be  estimated  by  its  profitableness  as  a 
pecuniary  investment,  rather  than  by  its  hygienic 
success,  all  measures  at  present  in  use  in  this  coun- 
try would  have  to  be  condemned.  From  the  former 
standpoint,  the  best,  perhaps,  that  can  yet  be  said 
of  the  completest  of  these  is,  that  it  is  the  least 
costly.  From  the  sanitary  standpoint  it  is  un- 
fortunate, although  quite  explicable,  that  the  pro- 

1  Eeport  of  1872,  p.  188.    Drs.  Gilbert  and  Voelcker  were  both  mem. 
ben  of  this  committee. 


260      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

tnoters  of  the  dry-earth  system  should  have  rested 
its  advantages  so  largely  upon  its  presumed  results 
for  agricultural  purposes.  Their  experience  must, 
however,  be  taken  as  showing  that  there  are  certain 
conditions  of  use  of  earth-closet  manure  which  jus- 
tify their  encomiums  of  it  as  a  manure  ;  and  thero 
is  no  sufficient  reason  to  believe  that  a  multiplica- 
tion of  like  experience  would  lead  to  different  results. 
But  adopting  the  chemical  estimate  of  the  value  of 
earth-closet  manure,  it  still  leaves  the  question  in 
this  not  particularly  unfavorable  position,  namely, 
that  the  dry-earth  system  is  perhaps  the  only  method 
of  excrement-disposal  at  present  practiced  in  this 
kingdom,  which  wholly,  or  almost  wholly,  would 
probably  cover  the  cost  of  working,  if  it  were  judi- 
ciously put  in  operation  within  suitable  districts." 

"  I  now  find  myself  in  a  position  to  state,  with 
some  approach  to  accuracy,  the  way  in  which  the 
earth  system  may  be  worked,  as  well  as  its  approxi- 
mate cost  and  produce.  I  need  not  here  consider 
the  case  of  public  institutions,  or  very  small  villages, 
as  the  instances  quoted  sufficiently  illustrate  the 
operation  of  the  system  there.  But  for  my  present 
purpose  I  begin  with  the  case  of  a  village  popula- 
tion of  1,000  persons  already  provided  with  the  or- 
dinary arrangement  of  outside  privies  and  cess-pools. 
People  making  use  of  closets  as  receptacles  for  all 
stools  and  urine  from  every  inhabitant,  may  be  taken 
to  use  them  on  an  average  three  times  a  day  each,  and 
to  require  for  each  use  1^  Ibs.  of  dry  earth.  Thii 


THE  DRY   CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  261 

gives  4,500  Ibs.,  or  two  tons,  as  the  daily  quantity  of 
earth  required  for  the  population.  The  amount 
that  would  accumulate  in  the  closet  pits,  and  which 
would  need  to  be  removed  about  four  times  a  year, 
would  be  larger  than  this,  by  the  bulk  of  the  stools, 
and  of  such  portion  of  urine  as  did  not  evaporate, 
but  without  reckoning  increase  on  this  score,  the 
quantity  of  manure  produced  may  be  reckoned  at 
the  same  quantity  of  two  tons  a  day. 

"  I  assume  that,  after  owners  of  property  have 
paid  the  original  cost  of  providing  earth-closets  ac- 
cording to  the  scheme  of  the  local  authority,  all  sup- 
ply and  maintenance  of  them  should  be  the  func- 
tion of  that  authority.  The  cost  to  owners  would 
vary  (1)  according  to  the  adaptability  of  the  ex- 
isting arrangements,  and  (2)  according  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  earth  arrangements  to  be  required. 
The  latter  may  either  consist,  as  at  Lancaster,  in  a 
single  daily  application  of  earth  to  the  closets,  or 
much  preferably,  as  at  Halton,  in  an  arrangement 
for  the  mechanical  delivery  of  earth  after  each  use 
of  the  closet.  In  this  latter  case,  an  average  out- 
lay for  structural  alterations  and  machinery  of  some 
X3  or  £4  might  be  required  in  respect  of  each 
closet." 

He  estimates  the  capital  needed  for  the  original 
plant,  at  £250  ;  and  the  weekly  outlay  for  earth  and 
labor,  at  £4  15s.  The  annual  cost,  including  inter- 
est on  plant,  will  be  £260.  The  product  will  be 
T30  tons  of  manure,  costing  seven  shillings  per  ton. 

"  The  extension  of  this  scheme,  beyond  the  villagfl 


262      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

of  1,000  people,  to  larger  towns,  appears  to  be  essen- 
tially a  question  of  multiplication,  with  these  dif- 
ferences :  on  the  one  hand,  an  organization  on  a 
large  scale  can  commonly  be  had  more  cheaply  than 
one  on  a  small  scale,  and  in  this  way  and  by  its 
compactness  the  town  has  the  advantage  over  the 
village  ;  on  the  other  hand,  labor  is  dearer  in  towns, 
and  towns  often  have  their  closets  so  arranged  that  it 
is  difficult,  without  much  cost,  to  adapt  them  to  the 
earth  system,  and  thus  the  village  has  advantage  over 
the  town.  Further,  in  towns  which  must  necessarily 
be  supplied  with  sewers  for  the  purpose  of  drying 
the  soil,  and  for  removing  rain-fall  and  house  slops, 
the  question  arises  whether  it  may  not  be  more  ad- 
vantageous to  throw  all  foul  matters  together  into 
these  sewers.  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  the  rela- 
tive merits  of  a  water-closet  system  and  of  an  earth- 
closet  system ;  this  must  depend  upon  a  variety 
of  considerations  proper  to  each  particular  place. 
In  a  locality  where  sewage  can  be  cheaply  delivered 
upon  suitably  situated  land,  where  the  amount  of 
sewage  dilution  is  such  as  fits  it  for  the  particular 
crops  that  are  marketable,  where  the  irrigable  land 
is  of  such  extent  and  quality  as  effectually  to  re- 
move the  manurial  constituents  of  sewage,  and  to 
allow  of  the  effluent  water  passing  off  in  sufficient 
purity,  in  short  where  sewage  irrigation  can  be 
effected  with  profit  to  the  people  and  safety  to  the 
.lealth  of  themselves  and  their  neighbors,  I  should 
anticipate  a  preference  for  a  system  of  water  car- 
riage for  the  excrement  of  the  place.  But  for  popu 


THE   DRY   CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  263 

lations  where  these  conditions  may  not  be  attainable, 
or  where  experience  may  show  greater  profit  realiz- 
able from  solid  manure,  I  should  suppose  that  the 
earth  system  would  find  advocates  in  preference  to 
the  water  system ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  the 
fact  that  many  large  English  towns  do  not  regard 
the  water-closet  system  as  suited  to  all  their  particu- 
lar wants,  nor  irrigation  as  being  a  remedy  certainly 
suitable  to  their  particular  sewerage  difficulties.  I 
refer,  of  course,  to  towns  which,  although  possessed 
of  a  system  of  sewers,  nevertheless  retain  their  ex- 
crement in  middens  or  cess-pools,  deliberately  avoid- 
ing water-closets  as  not  affording  them  the  certainty 
of  advantage  which  they  need  to  have  before  they 
enter  upon  expensive  new  constructions.  By  the 
authorities  of  such  towns  the  earth-system  will  espe- 
cially deserve  consideration  as  promising  them  the 
means  of  making  harmless  their  retained  excrement 
by  a  system  readily,  perhaps,  adaptable  to  their 
present  privy  construction,  and  not  involving  in  its 
introduction  a  new  kind  of  difficulty. 

"  The  present  inquiry  has  led  me  to  conclusions 
as  to  the  hygienic  advantages  of  the  dry-earth  sys- 
tem similar  to  those  arrived  at  by  Dr.  Buchanan 
in  1869,  and  I  adopt  mainly  his  words  in  stating 
them. 

"  1.  The  earth-closet  intelligently  managed,  fur- 
nishes a  means  of  disposing  of  excrement  without 
nuisance,  and  apparently  without  detriment  to 
health. 

'•  2.  In  communities,  the  earth-closet  system  re- 


£64   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

quires  to  be  managed  by  the  authority  of  the  place, 
and  in  limited  communities  it  will  probably  pay  at 
least  the  expenses  of  its  management. 

"3.  In  the  poorer  class  of  houses,  where  super- 
vision of  any  closet  arrangements  is  indispensable, 
the  adoption  of  the  earth  system  offers  especial  ad- 
vantages. 

"4.  The  earth  system  of  excrement  removal  does 
not  supersede  the  necessity  for  an  independent 
means  of  removing  slops,  rain  water,  and  soil  water. 

"6.  As  compared  with  the  water-closet,  the  earth- 
closet  has  these  advantages :  '  It  is  cheaper  in 
original  cost ;  it  requires  less  repair ;  it  is  not  in- 
jured by  frost;  it  is  not  damaged  by  improper  sub- 
stances being  thrown  down  it ;  and  it  very  greatly 
reduces  the  quantity  of  water  required  by  each 
household.'  " 

A  large  manufacturer  in  Lancashire  thus  states 
his  experiences  :  — 

"  Having  for  some  years  previously  felt  much  in- 
terest in  sanitary  affairs,  I  decided,  in  1870  (in  no 
small  degree,  by  reason  of  the  very  favorable  notice 
of  it  by  Dr.  Buchanan,  in  the  twelfth  report  of  the 
medical  officer  of  the  Privy  Council),  to  try  Moule's 
earth-closet.  I  pulled  out  a  good  water-closet  and 
substituted  an  earth-closet.  A  very  short  experience 
caused  me  to  do  away  with  every  other  form  of 
closet  I  had,  and  adopt  Moule's  throughout.  This 
vas  all  completed  some  time  ago,  and  there  are  now 
twenty-six  at  work  ;  nine  at  a  cotton  factory,  thre« 
At  my  own  house,  and  the  rest  connected  with  cot 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      265 

fcages.  It  has  been  objected  by  some  to  Moule's 
closet  that  mechanical  contrivances  are  apt  to  get 
out  of  order.  That  is  true,  but  from  the  first  up  to 
this  time,  I  have  had  nothing  whatever  that  haa 
gone  wrong.  The  closets  at  the  factory  and  one 
closet  at  my  house  (inside  and  up-stairs),  are  fed 
with  clay,  the  others  with  sifted  coal  ashes,  so  that 
ten  out  of  the  twenty-six  are  fed  with  clay,  and  the 
produce  of  these  we  sell ;  the  ash  manure  I  use  my 
self." 

THE  GOUX  EARTH-TUB   SYSTEM. 

I  have  had  no  personal  knowledge  of  this  system, 
and  take  the  following  from  English  sources. 

The  largest  trial  that  has  been  made  with  the 
Goux  system  is  in  the  town  of  Halifax,  in  England, 
where  in  May,  1874,  Netten  Radcliffe  found  2,573 
closets  so  arranged.  In  his  report  he  describes  the 
system  as  follows  :  — 

"  A  detailed  examination  of  the  working  of  the 
system  in  Halifax  showed,  as  a  rule,  a  less  degree  of 
offensiveness  to  the  eye  than  is  commonly  observed 
in  the  simple  pail  system. 

"  The  Goux  system  is  a  pail  system  of  which  the 
peculiarity  consists  in  a  certain  preparation  of  the 
pails,  and  in  a  particular  mode  of  manufacture  of 
the  excrement  into  manure,  and  utilization  of  the 
dry  house  refuse  generally.  I  am  here  concerned 
with  so  much  of  the  system  only  as  relates  to  the 
abatement  of  excrement  nuisance  in  the  vicinity  of 
dwellings.  The  pail  used  in  the  Goux  system  ia 


266      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

preferably  of  wood,  of  oval  form,  and  measures  24 
by  19  inches,  and  16  inches  deep.  It  is  prepared 
for  use  by  being  lined  at  the  sides  and  bottom  three 
or  four  inches  thick,  with  various  refuse  matters, 
used  as  absorbents.  These  matters  may  be  (to 
quote  from  a  trade  circular),  '  chaff,  chopped  or 
broken  straw,  damaged  or  refuse  hay,  coarse  grasses, 
moor  grass,  dry  street  sweepings,  dry  horse-dung, 
and  litter,  sweepings  of  markets,  hay  and  straw 
lofts,  refuse  wool  and  hair,  wool,  shoddy,  vraic  or 
seaweed,  charcoal  dust,  dry  peat,  dry  ferns,  spent 
dye  woods,  coal  ashes,  etc.,  any,  or  all  of  these,  or 
their  equivalents,  to  be  mixed  in  such  proportions  as 
may  be  most  convenient,  together  with  a  small  per- 
centage of  sulphate  of  iron,  or  sulphate  of  lime.  At 
Halifax,  the  materials  used  for  lining  the  tubs  are 
the  waste  arising  from  the  manufacture  of  worsted, 
cotton  and  flax,  and  old  manure  which  has  become 
dry  and  fallen  to  powder.  To  these  materials  a 
little  sulphate  of  lime  is  added.  The  pails  are  lined 
with  the  assistance  of  a  mold. 

"  The  lining  of  the  pail  is  designed  to  absorb  the 
urine  and  other  liquid  which  may  pass  into  the  pail, 
and  so  tend  to  keep  the  excrement  drier  and  delay  its 
decomposition;  but  the  absorption  appeared  to  me 
to  be  trivial  in  pails  used  by  women  and  children. 
Widely  different  degrees  of  sloppiness  existed,  obvi- 
ously dependent  upon  differences  in  the  families 
using  the  pails ;  but  the  extent  of  sloppiness  noticed 
in  Salford,  in  1869,  was  rarely  observed  in  Halifax 
greater  care  being  apparently  taken  in  the  lattei 


THE  DRY    CONSERVANCY   SYSTEM.  267 

town  to  avoid  the  emptying  of  chamber  atensils 
into  the  pails.  Probably  the  more  regular  locking 
of  the  doors  of  the  closets,  which  is  practiced  in 
Halifax,  contributes  not  a  little  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  contents  of  chamber  utensils  from  the  pails,  less 
trouble  being  experienced  in  casting  them  into  the 
yard  drain.  At  any  rate  the  aspect  of  the  lined 
pails  in  use  in  Halifax  generally,  was  less  offensive 
to  the  eye  than  that  of  the  simple  pail,  and  the  cast- 
ing down  of  a  portion  of  the  lining,  as  I  noticed  in 
several  instances,  sufficed  effectually  to  hide  the 
offense  and  diminish  the  odor  from  the  pail. 

"  The  sanitary  advantages  gained  from  the  intro- 
duction of  a  pail  system,  such  as  Goux's,  as  com- 
pared with  the  midden  system,  in  Halifax,  cannot 
well  be  overrated.  The  specification  for  the  recon- 
struction of  privies  on  the  Goux  system,  necessarily 
provides  for  the  filling  up  of  middensteads ;  and 
the  suppression  of  those  receptacles  is  an  initial 
requisite  of  sound  privy  administration 

"  Some  needless  carelessness  occurs  in  lining  the 
pails,  in  their  removal  and  cleansing,  as  well  as  in 
the  cleansing  of  the  night-soil  vans,  from  want  of 
special  supervision  of  the  working  of  the  system  by 
officers  of  the  corporation.  I  noticed  in  the  course  of 
my  inspection,  pails  imperfectly  lined,  and  some  not 
lined  at  all ;  pails  which  had  overflowed  from  neg- 
lect to  remove  them  at  the  proper  time  ;  littering 
of  ash-place  in  the  removal  of  the  ashes;  some 
splashing  in  van  and  leakage  from  van  into  street ; 
ind  unsatisfactory  arrangements  for  cleansing  the 


268   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

vans  at  the  wharf  whence  the  pails  are  dispatched 
to  the  manure  works.  These  defects,  insignificant 
as  compared  with  the  advantages  which  those  parts 
of  the  town  derive  from  the  system  where  it  has 
been  introduced,  but  exciting  prejudice  against  it, 
entirely  arise  from  the  want  of  such  special  super- 
vision as  the  corporation  should  exercise  over  it." 

The  Rochdale  Corporation  made  an  experiment 
of  several  months  with  the  Goux  system,  and  set  it 
aside  as  being  less  simple  than  the  small  pail  sys- 
tem, which  they  found  satisfactory. 

Dr.  Alfred  Haviland,  Medical  Officer  of  Health 
to  the  Rural  Sanitary  Authorities  in  the  counties  of 
Northampton,  Leicester,  and  Bucks,  publishes  in  the 
"  Sanitary  Record  "  of  September  25,  1875,  a  very 
strong  indorsement  of  the  Goux  system,  from  which 
the  following  is  quoted  :  — 

"  Having  been  favorably  impressed  with  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  Goux  system,  which  I  saw  in  operation 
at  Aldershot  in  October  last,  I  was  anxious  to  in- 
vestigate it  further,  and  for  this  purpose  visited 
Halifax  in  March  last,  in  company  with  Dr.  Gol- 
die,  the  medical  officer  of  health  for  Leeds.  Hali- 
fax, at  the  census  1871,  contained  13,970  houses  and 
65,510  persons.  It  is  situated  between  high  hills, 
and  its  site  is  so  irregular,  that  many  of  its  main 
streets  and  roads  are  particularly  ill-adapted  for  the 
draught  of  heavily  laden  vehicles,  so  that  scaveng- 
ing on  a  large  scale  is  performed  under  greater  dif 
ficulties  than  perhaps  in  any  other  town  in  Eng 
land. 


THE  DRY  CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.      269 

"  We  were  first  taken  to  the  manure  shed,  where 
the  sewage  is  taken  direct  from  the  houses  :  a 
building  145  feet  long  and  74  feet  wide,  roofed  with 
wood  and  felt,  with  open  rafters,  it  contained  1,500 
cart  loads  of  manure,  from  the  fresh  contents  of  the 
tubs  to  the  ripe  manure  fit  for  the  field.  There  was 
no  real  sewage  smell,  although  ammonia  was  per- 
ceptible, not  upleasantly,  however  ;  the  odor  of  the 
atmosphere  resembled  that  of  a  well-kept  cow-shed. 

"  In  Halifax,  the  lining  of  the  tubs  is  shoddy,  at 
Aldershot,  stable  litter.  A  lad  lined  six  tubs  and 
prepared  them  for  use  in  two  minutes. 

"  The  company  supply  in  the  borough  3,020  clos- 
ets with  tubs  —  a  fifth  more  is  kept  in  reserve. 
About  550  tubs  are  emptied  daily  into  the  shed, 
twenty-one  being  a  load.  Scavenging  begins  at  7 
A.  M.  and  ends  at  5.30  P.  M.  Occasional  complaints 
have  been  made  of  the  smell  of  the  tubs,  but  these 
have  only  occurred  when  the  emptying  has  been 
neglected,  and  the  tubs  allowed  to  get  too  full,  as 
was  the  case  during  the  severe  parts  of  this  year, 
when  the  horses  could  hardly  stand  on  the  slippery 
hills  of  Halifax,  and  the  scavenging  could  not  pro- 
ceed at  the  usual  rate.  The  tubs  are  emptied  once 
a  week. 

"  The  sewage  is  emptied  directly  into  the  shed  ; 
it  heats  like  stable  dung.  At  the  depot  the  ma- 
aure  sells  at  eleven  shillings  per  ton,  and  two  shill- 
ings extra  for  carting  to  the  station,  which  is  about 
a  mile  off.  It  is  then  conveyed  in  open  trucks  by 
railway  to  its  destination. 


270      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

"  Only  one  complaint  has  been  made  as  to  the 
smell  arising  from  these  trucks,  which  are  loaded  at 
the  ordinary  goods  station. 

"  In  the  work  twenty-one  men  are  employed  arid 
eighteen  horses,  ten  belonging  to  the  company  and 
eight  hired.  As  to  the  health  of  the  men  employed, 
not  one  had  lost  a  day's  work  from  sickness  for  the 
last  two  years.  The  Goux  system  was  established 
in  Halifax  in  January,  1870." 

Netten  Radcliffe  says  in  his  report  of  inspection 
of  the  system  at  Salford,  — 

"  We  inspected  many  pail-closets  used  by  single 
families,  and  others  used  by  several  families,  or  by 
the  inmates  of  a  common  lodging-house.  In  every 
instance  where  a  pail  had  been  in  use  over  two  or 
three  days,  the  capacity  of  absorption  of  the  liquid 
dejections,  claimed  by  the  patentee  for  the  absorb- 
ent material,  had  been  exceeded  ;  and  whenever  a 
pail  had  been  four  or  five  days  or  a  week  in  use,  it 
was  filled  to  the  extent  of  two  thirds  or  more  of  its 
cavity,  with  liquid  dejections,  in  which  the  solid 
excrement  was  floating.  The  contents,  in  fact,  dif- 
fered nowise  in  aspect,  except  in  the  cases  where  a 
portion  of  the  dyewood  lining  had  broken  down  and 
fallen  into  the  liquid,  from  what  we  should  have  ex- 
pected if  a  simple  unprepared  pail  had  been  used. 
Et  was  suggested  that  a  part  of  the  sloppiness  of  the 
pails  probably  depended  upon  the  fact  of  chamber 
pots  naving  been  emptied  into  them  ;  but  although 
the  regulations  for  their  use  permits  this  to  be  done 
we  did  not  always  find  on  inquiry  that  even  thii 
lource  of  wetness  had  been  in  operation." 


THE   DRY   CONSERVANCY  SYSTEM.  271 

THE  DRY  ASH-CLOSET. 

Although  this  system  is  properly  a  branch  of  Dry 
Conservancy,  it  may  (as  being  usually  applied  to 
some  form  of  vault  closet)  be  more  appropriately 
described  in  the  next  chapter. 

NOTE,  2d  edition.  —  Experience  and  careful  analysis  have  recently 
shown  that  in  properly  prepared  earth  the  entire  organic  matter  of  both 
urine  and  faeces  is  completely  destroyed  by  the  oxidation  which  is  al- 
ways active  in  aerated  porous  material.  The  same  earth  may  be  used 
over  and  over  again,  for  an  indsfinite  time,  if  it  is  allowed  to  lie  under 
cover  for  a  month  or  six  weeks  after  each  use.  This  vastly  simplifies 
the  question  of  earth-supply. 

This  matter  is  fully  discussed  in  my  Sanitary  Condition  of  City  ami 
Country  Dwelling-Houses.  New  York:  D.  Van  Nostrand. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

VAULTS  AND  PRIVIES. 

ANT  perfect  sanitary  system  would  probably  re- 
quire the  entire  abolition  of  all  cess-pools  and  vaults 
deep  in  the  ground,  and  of  all  receptacles  of  every 
sort  where  the  matters  to  be  treated  are  allowed 
to  accumulate  in  considerable  quantities.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  could  we  have  our  wish,  it  would  be 
best  in  every  case  to  make  an  advantageous  applica- 
tion of  the  water,  the  pneumatic,  or  the  dry  con- 
servancy system. 

But  the  cases  are  very  numerous  where  public 
opinion  is  far  from  being  sufficiently  educated  in 
sanitary  matters,  where  the  powers  of  the  sanitary 
authorities  of  the  town,  or  village,  are  far  too  lim- 
ited and  where  too  much  general  indifference  ex- 
ists, for  anything  like  a  radical  reform  to  be  under- 
taken with  the  hope  of  success.  In  such  cases  all 
that  can  be  attempted  is  to  reach  such  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  methods  now  in  use  as  shall  render  them 
at  least  much  less  offensive  and  dangerous  than 
they  now  are. 

This  subject  has  had  great  attention  from  local 
sanitary  authorities  in  many  towns  and  districts  of 


VAULTS   AND  PRIVIES.  273 

England,  and  the  investigations  concerning  it  have 
been  most  painstaking  and  valuable. 

It  seems  evident  that  there  are  but  three  roads 
of  escape  from  the  annoyances  now  existing,  short  of 
a  more  thorough  system,  whose  adoption  is,  in  so 
many  cases  impracticable.  These  are  :  The  pail 
system,  with  frequent  removal ;  the  tight  vault,  to 
be  emptied  as  occasion  requires,  with  movable  pneu- 
matic apparatus  ;  and  the  ash-pit  system,  with  fre- 
quent removal. 

If  the  Goux  system  is  to  be  considered  worthy  of 
public  confidence  and  general  adoption  in  any  town 
(which  seems  doubtful),  its  management  should  be 
subject  to  the  directions  and  restrictions  given  be 
low  with  reference  to  the  pail  system. 

THE  PAIL  SYSTEM. 

This,  which  is  also  called  the  Rochdale  system, 
consists  in  the  use,  beneath  the  seat,  of  a  tub  (usually 
the  half  of  a  petroleum  barrel)  to  receive  dejecta 
unmixed  with  any  absorbent,  —  the  tub  or  pail  to 
be  removed  at  frequent  intervals.  During  the  re- 
moval a  tight  cover  is  used,  and  the  pails  are  carried 
in  a  covered  wagon  to  a  depot  where  the  excrement 
is  mixed  with  ashes  and  sold  as  manure.  In  all 
eystems  where  a  removable  receptacle  is  used  in 
town  closets  the  round  form  is  better  than  the 
square,  as  being  more  easily  kept  clean,  and  the 
size  should  be  not  only  such  as  to  be  easily  handled 
by  one  man,  but  such  as  not  to  admit  of  remaining 
18 


274   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

too  long  without  cleansing.  These  receptacles  should 
not  simply  be  emptied  into  a  scavenger's  cart,  but 
should  be  taken  to  the  depot  to  be  cleansed  and  well 
aired,  their  places  in  the  closet  being  supplied  with 
fresh  vessels. 

The  Sanitary  Committee  of  the  Rochdale  Corpo- 
ration say,  with  reference  to  the  small  pail  system, 
that  "  the  essential  condition  of  the  trial,  fre- 
quency of  removal,  had  been  secured  ;  that  the  sys- 
tem of  removal  had  been  thoroughly  approved  by  all 
who  had  had  experience  of  it ;  and  that  it  had  not 
failed  under  most  varied  conditions,  having  proved 
equally  efficacious  in  the  highly-rented  house  with 
its  own  closet,  in  the  lodging-house  where  great 
numbers  were  accommodated,  and  in  the  factory  and 
workshop.  In  the  subsequent  manufacture  of  the 
dejections  and  ashes  into  a  salable  manure,  the 
committee  concluded  that  the  Goux  system  was  less 
advantageous  than  the  use  of  tubs  without  absorb- 
ent linings." 

The  pail  system  has  been  less  successful  in  Leeds 
than  in  Rochdale,  but  evidently  only  for  want  of 
proper  attention  and  sufficiently  frequent  removal, 
which  indicates  the  leading  objection  to  any  such 
system  as  this  under  any  but  the  most  careful  man- 
agement. Well  managed,  any  of  the  removal  sys- 
tems will  be  satisfactory,  while  none  will  bear  neg- 
lect among  the  poor  class  of  a  population  much 
better  than  will  the  ordinary  water-closet  system. 
The  pail  closet  is  gaining  favor  so  rapidly  in  Bir- 
ingham,  in  the  estimation  of  property  holders,  that 


VAULTS   AND   PRIVIES.  275 

the  means  thus  far  provided  for  its  extension  are 
taxed  to  the  utmost. 

PNEUMATIC  EMPTYING. 

There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  tightly  ce- 
mented vaults  to  be  emptied  by  portable  pneumatic 
apparatus  ;  and  this  emptying  process,  as  applied  to 
common  vaults,  is  achieving  a  success  which — when 
we  consider  the  still-prevailing  horrors  of  hand- 
emptying  —  is  well  deserved. 

But  this  system  is  open  to  the  grave  objections, 
that  in  practice  the  vault  would  often  be  anything 
but  tight,  and  would  in  such  cases  have  all  the  de- 
fects of  the  common  privy  ;  and  that  even  when  tight, 
its  purpose  would  be  to  retain  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
dwellings,  and  in  a  state  of  putrefaction  which  must 
always  endanger  health,  matters  which  it  should  be 
our  greatest  aim  to  remove  at  once  or  to  retain  (as 
with  the  earth  system)  in  an  innoxious  condition. 
These  objections  are  so  grave  that  they  should  suffice 
to  condemn  the  whole  process,  save  as  a  make-shift 
for  use  so  long  as  common  privy  vaults  are  tolerated 
at  all. 

THE  ASH-CLOSET. 

The  ash-closet  which  has  come  into  use  (and  into 
great  favor)  in  several  large  towns  in  England,  is 
usually  intended  to  be  emptied  at  frequent  intervals. 
Its  best  development  seems  to  Ije  in  the  town  of 
Hull. 

The  daily  removal  recommended  by  Doctors  Rad- 
cliffe  and  Buchanan  in  1869  has,  however,  not  been 


276      SANITARY    DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

carried  out,  weekly  removal  being  thought  to  be 
all  that  was  practicable.     These  gentlemen  say  :  — 

"  In  the  present  imperfect  state  of  our  knowledge 
of  the  conditions  under  which  faecal  diseases  spread, 
we  do  not  feel  ourselves  entitled  to  say  at  what 
time,  after  being  passed,  dejections  are  or  may 
(under  various  external  circumstances)  become  dan 
gerous  to  health.  We  cannot  say  this  either  in  re- 
gard of  healthy  excrement,  or  of  that  passed  from 
persons  affected  with  disease,  specific  or  other,  but 
we  think  it  may  probably  be  taken  as  sufficiently 
true  for  practical  purposes  that  there  is  little  chance 
of  mischief  from  the  storage  of  excrement  for  a  day, 
even  though  along  with  healthy  excrement  that  of 
persons  affected,  for  example,  by  enteric  fever 
should,  without  proper  disinfection,  chance  occasion- 
ally to  be  included.  We  propose,  then,  to  regard 
complete  removal  of  all  excrement  within  a  day  as 
practically  constituting  safety  in  the  case  where  ex- 
crement is  unmixed,  or  is  only  mixed  with  ashes."  * 

Dr.  Radcliffe  advises  in  his  later  report :  "  In 
all  forms  of  fixed  closets  the  foremost  condition,  — 
the  one  to  which  all  other  considerations  should 
yield,  is  the  frequency  of  removal  of  deposited  excre- 
ments" 

For  the  information  of  town  authorities  who  may 
contemplate  adopting  a  system  of  frequent  removal, 
it  may  be  interestrng  to  repeat  the  following  from 
Mr.  Radcliffe's  report  of  the  regulations  in  force  in 
fche  town  of  Hull,  England. 

i  Meaning,  doubtless,  ash-bin  refuse. 


VAULTS   AND   PRIVIES.  271 

"  For  the  purposes  of  '  night  soil  collection  '  the 
borough  is  divided  into  forty-eight  districts,  each 
containing  from  three  hundred  to  seven  hundred 
houses,  the  total  number  of  houses  enumerated  for 
the  purposes  of  this  collection  in  1873  being  80,977. 
The  collection  is  carried  out  by  the  sanitary  author- 
ity through  the  agency  of  contractors.  As  a  rule, 
each  district  is  let  out  to  a  separate  contractor,  and 
no  contractor  is  allowed  to  undertake  more  than 
two  districts.  The  smaller  districts  are  so  arranged 
that  the  collection  may  be  carried  out  by  any  one 
who  has  the  command  of  a  horse  and  cart,  and  who 
can  have  the  assistance  of  a  boy  or  two.  With  a 
view  of  obviating  undue  combination  among  the 
contractors,  and  diminishing  the  evil  effect  of  strikes 
among  the  men,  the  contracts  are  so  timed  in  the 
letting  that  only  eight  or  nine  can  fall  vacant  to- 
gether. The  contractor,  in  addition  to  receiving 
the  material  he  collects,  and  which  he  sells  for  such 
profit  as  he  can  obtain,  is  paid  by  the  sanitary  au- 
thority from  2s.  to  3s.  yearly  for  each  house  in  his 
district.  The  sanitary  authority  provides  places  of 
deposit  (four  in  number)  where  the  contractor  can 
store  the  collected  material  until  disposed  of ;  and 
he  is  subject  to  penalty  if  he  should  deposit  such  ma- 
terial elsewhere  without  permission  of  the  inspector 
of  nuisances,  in  writing.  The  contractor  is  required 
by  the  terms  of  his  contract  to  collect  and  remove 
it  least  once  a  week,  all  night  soil,  offal,  dry  and 
liquid  filth,  dust,  paper,  and  other  refuse  of  every 
Inscription,  from  all  premises,  middensteads,  ash-pita, 


278       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

dust  boxes,  cellars,  or  other  places  used  for  such 
refuse,  attached  to  all  houses,  shops,  warehouses, 
yards,  and  other  premises  within  his  district,  with 
the  exception  of  trade  refuse  exceeding  in  quantity 
three  cubic  feet  in  any  one  week,  and  all  contents 
of  cess-pools,  blood,  manure,  and  filth  from  slaugh- 
ter houses,  ashes  from  furnaces,  and  refuse  from 
manufacturing  processes.  The  work  of  collection 
and  removal  is  to  be  executed  on  week  days,  from 
the  beginning  of  March  to  the  end  of  October,  be- 
tween the  hours  of  5  and  8.30  A.  M.  and  from  the 
beginning  of  November  to  the  end  of  February,  be- 
tween the  hours  of  6  and  9.30  A.  M.,  and  all  carts 
employed  in  the  work  are  to  be  clear  of  the  streets 
and  public  thoroughfares,  on  their  way  to  the  de- 
pots, before  9  A.  M.,  within  the  former  period,  and 
before  10  A.  M.,  within  the  latter  period.  Further, 
the  contractor  is  required  to  use  water-tight  and 
properly  covered  carts." 

The  arrangement  of  the  Hull  privy  is  extremely 
simple  as  indicated  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 

"  The  space  under  the  seat  forms  the  entire  re- 
ceptacle for  all  the  ashes,  refuse,  and  excrement  of 
the  house,  and  is  built  of  bricks  in  cement,  with 
a  bottom  of  brick  or  flag,  sloping  from  the  level  of 
the  paved  floor  in  front  to  a  little  below  the  ground 
level  at  the  back,  and  forming  only  a  very  shallow 
pit.  Into  this  space,  through  the  hole  in  the  privy 
seat,  all  dry  refuse  is  thrown.  The  front  of  the 
ttridden  space  is  formed  by  the  front  board  of  the 
closet,  which  is  made  moveable,  to  give  the  scav 


VAULTS   AND   PRIVIES. 


279 


enger  access  to  the  pit.     There  is  no  drain  to  it,  aa 
rain    is    excluded    and 


are  in  practice 
thrown  down  the  drains. 
The  ashes  are  usually 
sufficient  in  quantity  to 
soak  up  all  moisture 
passing  into  the  pit,  and 
the  contents  are  almost 
invariably  dry,  and  are 
removed  by  a  spade 
without  difficulty." 

Simple  as  this  con- 
struction is,  its  adoption 
in  our  northern  towns 
would  require  some  pro- 
vision should  be  made 
which  should  prevent  its 
receptacle  being  cracked 
by  heaving  from  frost,  but  if  properly  constructed, 
and  if  frequently  cleansed  under  efficient  supervis- 
ion, it  would  certainly  be  a  very  great  improvement 
%n  the  system  at  present  in  general  use. 

The  instances  in  Hull,  in  which  the  arrangement 
was  found  to  be  unsatisfactory,  seem  to  have  been 
due  to  one  or  other,  of  the  following  conditions  :  — 

"  1.  Deteriorated,  or  original  imperfect  construc- 
tion of  the  walls  of  the  privy  pit,  leading  to  retention 
of  portions,  and  perhaps  to  some  soakage  of  decom- 
posing filth. 

"  2.  Careless  casting  of  slops  into  the  privy  pit, 


Figure  23.  —  Section  of  privy. 


280      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

facilitating  decomposition  of  the  contents,  and  soak- 
age  of  the  wood-work. 

"  3.  Want  of  adaptation  of  the  scavenging  to  the 
needs  of  particular  localities  and  their  inhabitants, 
In  the  localities  occupied  by  the  most  impoverished 
and  degraded  of  the  population  the  privies  were 
overflowing  with  filth,  and  most  offensive.  Thia 
arose  mainly  from  the  insufficiency  of  the  scaveng- 
ing. Designed  to  meet  the  requirements  of  a  sin- 
gle family  only,  the  Hull  privy  cannot  be  used  by 
several  families  without  being  productive  of  nui- 
sance, except  on  condition  of  a  more  frequent  re- 
moval of  its  contents  than  once  a  week.  A  daily 
removal  is  necessary  under  these  circumstances ;  and 
as  to  orderliness  of  the  privy,  in  those  cases  where 
a  single  family  cannot  be  made  responsible  for  it, 
this  will  not  as  a  rule  be  secured  unless  the  sanitary 
authority  itself  undertakes  the  duty  of  maintaining 
it." 

Netten  Radcliffe  made  a  careful  examination  of 
the  Dry- Ash  system  in  Manchester,  where  6,000  such 
privies  were  already  in  use,  and  thus  reports  :  — 

41  In  the  series  of  inspections  I  made  with  refer- 
ence to  the  working  of  this  new  system,  I  had  occa- 
sion first  to  observe  the  contrast  as  to  nuisance  be- 
tween the  dry-ash  closet  and  the  old  midden  closet. 
In  several  streets  where  the  process  of  reconstruction 
had  been  only  partially  completed,  it  was  possible  tc 
compare  the  old  and  new  privy  arrangements  in 
tontiguous  premises.  It  was  the  contrast  between 
open,  big,  uncleanable  cavities,  containing  a  greate: 


VAULTS  AND   PRIVIES.  281 

or  less  amount  of  decomposing  faecal  matter,  and 
emitting  a  horrible,  penetrating  odor,  and  small 
receptacles  emitting  hardly  any  appreciable  smell, 
even  with  the  nose  above  the  privy  seat,  and 
admitting  of  thorough  cleansing.  Most  significant 
testimony  <vas  given  to  the  benefit  of  the  change  by 
some  householders.  Many  houses  in  Manchester 
are  built  in  parallel  rows,  a  back  passage  run- 
ning between  the  rows,  and  each  house  having  a 
small  yard  in  the  rear  in  which  the  privy  is  placed. 
Since  the  reconstruction  of  the  privies,  '  it  has  been 
possible  to  open  the  back  windows  of  the  houses.' 
The  change,  moreover,  has  affected  beneficially  the 
value  of  cottage  property,  and  tenants  are  quite 
willing  to  give  3d.  more  rent  weekly  since  the  re- 
construction of  the  privies,  for  the  gain  in  decency 
and  comfort.  Soakage  of  excremental  matter  into 
the  soil,  and  its  passage  into  and  accumulation  in 
drains  is,  of  course,  obviated  by  the  reconstruction, 
and  the  smaller  space  occupied  by  the  new  closet  is 
not  an  unimportant  matter.  The  removal  of  the 
excrement  pail  is,  with  the  most  ordinary  care,  free 
from  offensiveness,  and  if  commonly  conducted  as  I 
saw  the  operation,  it  may  well  be  executed  during 
the  day-time,  and  the  abomination  of  night  scaveng- 
*ng  done  away  with.  The  use  of  the  cinder  sifters 
has  been  adopted  by  householders  with  a  readiness 
which  proves  how  accurate  the  corporation  was  in 
Depending  upon  their  cooperation  in  the  working 
of  the  scheme.  The  high  price  of  coal  during  the 
Ust  two  years  has  contributed  to  this  good  result, 


282   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

from  the  value  of  the  cinders  in  economizing  its  use. 
It  is  found,  also,  that  a  class  of  the  population,  com- 
monly believed  to  be  unmanageable  in  regard  to  any 
niceties  of  arrangement  for  excrement  disposal,  have 
rapidly  appreciated  the  advantages  of  the  new 
closet,  and  taken  to  the  use  of  the  cinder-sifter.  In 
other  words,  it  has  been  found  that  habits  of  de- 
cency and  order  in  the  particular  matters  referred 
to  have  been  laigely  developed  with  the  opportuni- 
ties for  such  decency  and  order.  Among  the  lowest 
class,  occupying  sub-let  houses,  and  having  privies 
used  by  families  in  common,  it  will,  however,  proba- 
bly be  found  necessary  to  adopt  some  special  super- 
vision, and  to  remove  the  excrement  and  dry  house 
refuse  daily." 

Where  these  closets  are  in  use  the  instructions  of 
the  sanitary  authorities  require  the  inspector  of  nui- 
sances to  report  as  nuisances  all  closets  in  which  the 
due  covering  with  ashes  or  earth  is  neglected. 

TUMBLER  AND  TROUGH   CLOSETS. 

These  are  closets  for  the  use  of  large  numbers  of 
persons  (as  in  factories),  where  there  is  no  other 
objection  to  the  water-system  than  the  liability  of 
the  usual  apparatus  to  get  out  of  repair. 

They  each  have  a  trough  under  the  seat,  through 
which  water  is  either  kept  running,  or  in  which  it 
Btands  to  a  certain  depth,  to  be  let  off  from  time 
to  time.  The  "  tumbler "  is  similar  to  that  de- 
scribed (page  167,  Figure  7)  under  the  head  o> 
'  Flushing  Sewers." 


VAULTS  AND  PRIVIES.  283 

The  measurements  of  the  tumbler  for  a  closet 
may  be : — 

Length  of  tumbler,  at  top        .        .        .3  feet. 
Length  of  tumbler  at  bottom        .        .        1  foot  10  inches. 
Width  of  tumbler  at  bottom    .        .        .    1  foot  7|  inches. 
Depth  of  tumbler  at  back     .        .        .        1  foot  }  inch. 
Trunnions  are  6J  inches  from  top,  and  1  foot  1}  inches  from  back. 

In  Leeds,  the  use  of  the  tumbler-closet  has  not 
been  extended  during  the  past  three  years,  it  being 
considered  wasteful  of  water,  and  difficult  to  keep 
in  order. 

TROUGH   CLOSET. 

In  Liverpool,  where  the  trough-closet,  flushed  with 
water,  is  in  quite  extended  use,  Dr.  Trench  stated 
that,  in  1868,  when  an  epidemic  of  enteric  fever  was 
prevailing,  "  The  only  localities  which  seemed  ex- 
empt from  it  were  the  places  occupied  by  the  poor, 
in  which  we  had  removed  all  the  privies  and  made 
trough  closets." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LTERNTJB,'S   PNEUMATIC   SYSTEM  OF  SEWEBAGE. 

THE  important  problem  of  town  sewerage  seems 
to  be  seeking  its  solution  by  the  aid  of  all  the  nat- 
ural elements.  Water  and  earth  have  had  their 
trials  and  have  been  more  or  less  successful,  and 
now  an  ingenious  Dutch  engineer  has  called  air  into 
requisition,  and  promises  to  solve  all  the  difficulties 
which  have  been  but  partially  overcome  by  previous 
gy  stems. 

Captain  Charles  T.  Liernur,  of  Holland,  a  mili- 
tary and  civil  engineer  of  much  experience  (long  a 
railroad  engineer  in  America),  has  devised  a  system 
for  which  he  claims  great  results,  and  which,  theo- 
retically at  least,  seems  to  possess  advantages  far  be- 
yond those  of  any  other  that  has  been  applied  to 
densely  populated  town  areas.  This  system  has,  as 
yet,  been  too  incompletely  tested,  and  some  of  its 
important  supplementary  details  have  been  too  little 
experimented  with,  for  one  to  say  definitely  that  it 
is  an  assured  success  which  is  entirely  to  drive  from 
the  field  the  water  sewerage  now  in  such  general 
nse  ;  but  its  claims  are  set  forth  with  such  positive 
assurances  of  merit,  and  its  various  parts  seem  to 
have  been  so  well  considered,  that  it  is  worthy  of 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    285 

more  than  passing  notice  as  merely  a  curious  me- 
chanical contrivance. 

As  every  important  invention  in  connection  with 
the  removal  of  the  faecal  matter  of  towns  should  be 
approached  in  a  hopeful  spirit,  and  encouraged  by 
the  fullest  opportunity  for  its  development,  it  will 
be  best  first  to  state  what  are,  and  what  are  to  be, 
the  mechanical  details  of  Liernur's  process,  and 
what  its  adherents  believe  that  it  will  accomplish. 

The  initial  principle  of  the  system  lies  in  the  suc- 
tion to  a  central  public  reservoir  of  the  accumulation 
of  faecal  material  deposited  in  receptacles  at  sepa- 
rate houses,  these  being  connected  with  this  reservoir 
by  air-tight  pipes.  The  reservoir  being  exhausted 
of  its  air,  the  accumulations  are  drawn  toward  it  by 
pneumatic  pressure.  No  matter  how  large  may  be 
the  area  occupied  by  the  sewered  houses,  each  dis- 
trict has  its  central  reservoir,  and  these  reservoirs 
are  in  turn  and  in  like  manner  themselves  dis- 
charged into  a  main  vacuum  chamber  at  convenient 
point,  being  connected  with  this  by  a  similar  sys- 
tem of  pneumatic  pipes.  The  deposits  at  each  house 
are  first  removed  to  central  receptacles  in  their 
districts,  and  the  whole  mass  is  by  a  second  or  even 
by  a  third  operation  drawn  to  the  main  depot, 
where  it  is  to  be  disposed  of  according  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  conditions  of  health,  and  most 
conveniently  for  agricultural  use. 

The  invention  has  grown  gradually  from  small 
beginnings,  and  it  has  been  in  one  or  two  instances 
applied  over  large  areas  with  very  satisfactory  re- 


286      SANITAEY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

Bults.  As  the  system  in  a  town  of  even  the  largest 
size  is  merely  au  aggregation  of  smaller  systems,  to 
describe  one  of  these  latter  will  suffice  for  an  under- 
standing of  its  principles. 

We  will  assume,  then,  a  level  town  area  of  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  houses  of 
medium  size.  In  the  centre  of  this  area,  in  the 
middle  of  a  street,  and  far  enough  below  the  surface 
to  be  secured  against  frost,  there  is  sunk  an  air-tight 
iron  reservoir  having  two  openings  at  its  surface,  to 
either  of  which  an  air-pump  connection,  or  the  con- 
necting pipe  of  an  exhausted  receiver  may  be  at- 
tached. The  air-pump  attachment,  used  to  create 
a  vacuum,  opens  into  the  top  of  the  reservoir,  while 
the  attachment  of  the  exhausted  receiver,  being  in- 
tended to  suck  out  the  liquid  contents,  is  connected 
with  a  pipe  reaching  nearly  to  the  bottom. 

When  the  air-pump  is  applied  for  the  exhaustion 
of  the  air  of  the  reservoir,  it  creates  a  partial  vacuum, 
which  extends  through  the  whole  series  of  pneu- 
matic pipes  connected  with  it,  and  the  pressure  of 
the  air  entering  at  the  remote  open  ends  of  the 
pipes  drives  forward  toward  the  vacuum-centre  all  of 
their  liquid  accumulations. 

After  the  reservoir  has  become  filled,  the  pipe 
reaching  to  its  bottom  is  attached  to  the  previously 
exhausted  receiver,  into  which  the  liquid  is  drawn. 
Main  pipes,  under  ground,  running  through  the 
streets,  or  through  the  spaces  between  the  backs  of 
houses,  and  with  branches  to  or  under  the  houses 
themselves,  allow  the  accumulations  of  the  hous« 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    287 

closets  to  flow  to  the  reservoir  whenever  a  vacuum  is 
established  and  is,  by  the  opening  of  stop-cocks, 
brought  to  bear  upon  them.  The  closets  of  each 
house,  which  may  be  placed  one  over  the  other  on 
the  different  stories,  are  connected  with  the  branch 
pipe  described,  having  a  vertical  or  nearly  vertical 
fall  to  the  point  of  junction.  When  the  cocks  are 
opened,  so  that  these  branch  pipes  are  brought  into 
direct  communication  with  the  vacuum,  every  house 
pipe,  being  open  at  its  upper  end,  becomes  a  source 
of  pressure,  and  the  air  in  seeking  to  fill  the  vacuum 
carries  before  it  whatever  matters  may  be  accumu- 
lated within  it.  In  the  earliest  introduction  of  the 
system,  each  house  branch  was  supplied  with  a  cock, 
so  that  after  the  reservoir  had  been  exhausted  of  air, 
the  opening  of  each  of  these,  for  a  moment,  caused 
the  contents  of  its  pipe  to  be  thrown  rapidly  forward 
toward  the  street  reservoir ;  but  as  there  was  no 
means  of  knowing  the  exact  time  needed  for  the 
emptying  of  the  contents  of  each  pipe,  either  there 
was  necessarily  incomplete  work,  or  more  air  might 
be  admitted  than  the  work  required.  Later,  there 
was  substituted  for  these  stop-cocks  an  arrangement 
of  self-acting  air-traps  which  entirely  overcame  the 
difficulty.  These  traps  give  equal  barometric  resist- 
ances, and  by  their  aid  the  accumulations  of  each 
house,  be  they  great  or  small,  far  or  near,  are  dis- 
charged with  absolute  uniformity  and  regularity  by 
the  opening  of  a  single  cock  in  the  main  pipe  \vith 
which  the  house  branches  are  connected.  These 
automatic  traps,  depending  for  their  action  on  this 


288   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 


equal  barometric  resistance,  are  not  merely  effective 
for  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended :  they 
are  also  interesting  as  a  most  ingenious  and  curious 
'invention.  Their  action  may  be  easily  explained. 
The  accompanying  diagram  (Figure  24)  shows  two 
tumblers  containing  wa- 
ter. One  is  nearly  filled 
and  the  other  has  but 
an  inch  of  water  at  its 
bottom  ;  the  difference 
in  height  between  the 
two  levels  of  the  water 
we  will  assume  to  be  two 
inches.  The  baromet- 
TIG  resistance  (against 
suction)  is  greater,  by 
the  pressure  due  to  a 
column  of  two  inches  of 
water,  in  the  one  than 
it  is  in  the  other.  Into 
each  of  these  two  tum- 
blers a  glass  tube  is  in- 
serted, and  the  ends  of 
both  tubes  are  taken 
into  the  mouth  at  the 
Figure  24.  same  time.  We  will 

assume  that  the  vertical  height  between  the  sur- 
face of  the  water  in  one  of  the  tumblers  and  the 
mouth  is  four  inches,  and  between  the  surface  of 
the  water  in,  the  other  tumbler  and  the  mouth  ii 
•is  inches ;  consequently  in  one  case  there  is  a  col 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    289 

amn  of  four  inches  of  water  to  be  lifted,  and  in  the 
other  a  column  of  six  inches.  Now  if  one  sucks 
very  gently  on  both  tubes,  that  is,  if  both  are  slowly 
exhausted  by  the  same  mouth,  water  will  flow  only 
from  the  tumbler  which  is  the  fuller,  or  from  which 
the  shorter  column  is  to  be  lifted,  until  the  level 
of  its  water  is  reduced  to  the  level  of  that  in  tho 
other  tumbler  ;  then,  the  height  to  be  overcome  be- 
ing equal,  there  will  be  an  equal  flow  from  each 
tumbler  until  both  are  exhausted.  No  matter  how 
much  water  there  may  be  in  one  vessel  nor  how 
little  in  the  other  ;  if  the  same  slow  draft  is  made 
on  both  at  the  same  time,  the  flow  will  always  be 
entirely  from  the  one  standing  at  the  higher  level, 
and  after  the  equilibrium  is  established  there  must 
be  an  absolute  equality  of  level  preserved  until  both 
are  exhausted.  The  same  effect  will  be  observed  if 
we  experiment  with  a  dozen  tumblers,  all  having 
their  contents  at  different  elevations  ;  that  one  in 
which  the  liquid  stands  at  the  highest  level  will  be 
discharged  first ;  when  this  reaches  the  level  of  the 
second,  these  two  will  be  discharged  together ; 
when  these  descend  to  the  level  of  the  third,  the 
three  will  deliver  equally  ;  and  so  on  until  the  whole 
series,  offering  an  equal  resistance  to  an  equal  force, 
deliver  their  contents  at  the  same  rate.1 

i  The  flow  through  the  tubes  must  be  so  slow  that  the  element  ol 
friction  shall  not  interfere  with  its  success.  Practically,  it  is  difficult 
to  make  the  draught  by  the  mouth  sufficiently  slow  and  steady  for  sue- 
%ess  with  the  small  tubes  required.  With  an  air  pump  or  compressed 
rubber  ball  it  is  easier  to  regulate  the  force,  and  the  tubes  may  b« 
arger. 

19 


290       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND  TOWNS. 

Captain  Liernur  has  applied  this  principle  of  bar- 
ometric resistances  to  his  pneumatic  tubes  by  giving 
to  each  (for  convenience,  before  it  leaves  the  prem- 
ises by  which  it  is  supplied)  a  break,  or  abrupt 
change  in  elevation,  of  say  exactly  one  foot.  It  is 
necessary  that  there  should  be  always  a  distinct  fall, 
or  inclination  toward  the  direction  of  the  flow  of  the 
pipe,  so  that  its  liquid  contents  may  move  forward 
without  halting  at  any  point  to  deposit  silt,  which 
might  in  time  obstruct  them.  Practically,  it  is 
said  to  be  best  to  give  an  inclination  of  one  foot 
in  a  length  of  fifty  feet.  This  for  a  minimum  ;  the 
maximum  may  be  whatever  circumstances  require. 
In  a  level  district  all  the  pipes  of  the  system  may 
have  this  minimum  inclination,  but  where  the  town 
is  built  on  irregular  surfaces  one  pipe  may  lie  at  this 
slight  pitch,  and  the  very  next  one  may,  without 
detriment,  have  an  inclination  of  forty-five  degrees 
or  more.  All  tend  toward  the  same  central  point, 
and  may  have  more  or  less  fall  in  that  direction. 
But  each  pipe  has  its  flow  interrupted  by  the  trap 
or  vertical  step  referred  to.  Figure  25  shows  two 

such  pipes, 
leading  from 
two  different 
houses  and  de- 
livering to  the 
same  street 
main:  a  is  a 

Fi»ure  M-  pipe  with  a  very 

inclination,  and  5  is  a  pipe  at  the  minimum 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    291 

inclination.  The  dotted  lines  I  I  show  the  height 
to  which  the  liquid  must  rise  in  the  pipes  toward  a 
and  I  before  it  can  begin  to  flow  over  the  high 
points  h.  If  the  production  of  either  house  is  more 
than  enough  to  fill  the  depression  in  the  pipe  below 
the  dotted  lines,  any  addition  to  the  quantity  will 
simply  cause  a  discharge  by  gravitation  over  the 
angle  A,  and  the  liquid  will  flow  on  by  its  own  force 
toward  the  reservoir.  This  flow  will  of  course  con- 
tinue so  long  as  there  is  an  addition  to  the  volume 
at  the  higher  end,  but  the  amount  of  liquid  stand- 
ing below  the  level  of  the  dotted  lines  must  always 
remain  there  until  some  artificial  force  is  applied  to 
move  it.  Now  suppose  the  suction  of  a  vacuum  to 
be  applied  at  the  main  pipe  c.  The  pressure  of  the 
air  is  brought  to  bear  on  the  surfaces  of  the  liquid 
at  the  points  Jc,  forcing  the  whole  mass  forward  over 
the  high  points  h.  The  flow  begins  at  the  same  in- 
stant in  both  pipes,  but  as  there  is  a  larger  volume 
in  the  pipe  having  the  more  gradual  (and  longer) 
slope,  and  as  the  vertical  descent  of  the  two  surfaces 
must  be  exactly  the  same,  the  amount  flowing  out 
of  the  pipe  b  will  be  greater  than  that  flowing  out 
of  the  pipe  a,  until  k  has  descended  to  the  lowest 
point  d,  when  in  both  pipes  there  are  equal  columns 
to  be  overcome  (from  h  to  <#),  each  twelve  inches 
high,  and,  as  the  pressure  is  equal,  these  are  drawn 
over  simultaneously.  This  principle  is  applied  in 
practice  even  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  pipes  sub- 
jected to  the  force  of  the  same  vacuum,  so  that  those 
of  a  whole  district  are  exhausted  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. 


292  SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

In  addition  to  the  difference  of  inclination,  there 
is  also  a  great  difference  in  the  quantity  of  material 
to  be  treated,  and  these  different  quantities  are 
equally  well  managed  by  the  same  system.  In 
Figure  26,  c  is  the  main  pipe  connected  with  the 
b  ^  vacuum  chamber. 

We  will  suppose 
a  to  be  the  outlet 
pipe   of    a   large 
Fi£ure  *•  hotel,  and  b  that 

of  a  small  cottage  in  which  only  two  persons  are 
living.  The  pipe  a  receives  an  amount  of  liquid 
which  will  fill  the  space  below  the  lines  I  I  in  an 
hour.  During  the  remaining  twenty-three  hours  of 
the  day  its  sewage  matter  flows  on  directly  toward 
the  central  reservoir ;  but  the  accumulation  in  the 
pipe  b  is  only  sufficient  during  twenty-four  hours  to 
fill  the  vertical  part  of  the  pipe  between  h  and  d. 
Of  course  this  matter  will  lie  level  in  the  angle,  and 
will  rise  but  a  part  of  the  distance  between  d  and  h. 
When  the  vacuum  is  applied,  the  atmospheric 
pressure  at  b  bears  down  upon  the  small  supply  and 
tends  to  raise  it  toward  A,  but  at  the  same  time  an 
equal  pressure  in  the  pipe  a  is  forcing  forward  the 
contents  of  that  pipe  and  pouring  them  over  the 
height.  The  contents  of  b  cannot  reach  the  point  h 
until  the  quantity  in  the  pipe  a  is  reduced  to  the 
same  amount,  that  is,  until  the  whole  pipe  between 
d  and  a  and  d  and  b  is  emptied  ;  then  there  will 
stand  in  the  two  pipes  two  columns,  each  twelve 
inches  high,  ready  to  pass  over  at  the  same  mo- 
ment. 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE. 


This  device  has  enabled  Liernur  to  do  away  with 
every  faucet  or  stop-cock  in  his  whole  system  of 
pipes,  except  a  single  one  in  the  main.  By  opening 
this  the  force  of  the  vacuum  is  brought  to  bear 
equally  and  instantly  upon  the  house  pipes  of  the 
whole  system,  with  a  quick  pneumatic  shock  whose 
suddenly  applied  force  is  deemed  important.  It  is 
thus  made  certain  that  there  can  at  no  point  be  a 
useless  escape  of  air,  until  every  one  of  the  pipes 
has  been  exhausted  of  its  contents ;  of  course,  at  the 
angle,  a  small  quantity  will  fall  back  after  the  air 
begins  to  flow  over. 

The  arrangement  of  house  closets  is  very  simple : 
they  are,  wherever  practicable,  for  economy's  sake 
placed  vertically  one  over  the  other  on  the  different 
floors,  in  order  that  they  may 
reach  the  outflow  through  the 
same  down-pipe.  The  closet,  as 
originally  made,  is  a  simple  fun- 
nel of  iron  or  earthen-ware  with 
a  bend  trap  at  the  bottom,  as 
shown  in  Figure  27,  a  pan  of  en- 
ameled iron  or  whitened  earthen- 
ware being  inserted  at  the  top  for 
better  appearance.  From  the 
highest  point  of  the  main  pipe, 
outside  of  the  trap,  there  rises  a 
ventilating  pipe,  u,  reaching  above 
the  top  of  the  house,  and  this  pipe  has  a  branch  for 
the  ventilation  of  the  funnel,  which  it  enters  near 
its  top,  at  a  point  behind  the  pan.  The  action  of 


—it* 


Figure  27. 


294     SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

this  branch  is  to  afford  an  outlet  for  gases  forming 
in  the  funnel  and  to  cause  a  down  draught  when 
the  lid  is  opened,  so  that  there  may  never  be  an 
escape  of  foul  air  into  the  room.  It  is  recom- 
mended, when  practicable,  to  place  these  closets 
next  to  the  outer  wall  of  the  house  and  to  supply 
each  with  an  open  window,  or  in  some  manner  to 
give  a  thorough  ventilation.  The  pipes  descending 
from  the  closets,  the  service  pipes  of  the  different 
houses,  and  the  mains  in  the  streets  (in  each  dis- 
trict) are  all  five-inch  cast-iron  pipes,  secured  at  the 
joints  in  the  same  manner  as  gas  pipes. 

So  far  as  the  emptying  of  the  closets  is  concerned, 
it  is  thought  that  the  system,  as  described,  is  en- 
tirely complete  and  satisfactory.  The  next  problem 
was  to  apply  it  to  the  solid  matters  of  the  kitchen 
waste  pipe.  The  amount  of  water  flowing  from  the 
kitchen,  from  bath-tubs,  etc.,  is  much  greater  than 
it  would  be  economical  to  treat  by  the  pneumatic 
process,  and  a  separate  outflow  is  provided  for  them 
to  the  same  system  of  sewers  that  is  used  for  the  re- 
moval of  storm  and  subsoil  waters.  Figure  28  shows 

the  arrangement 
of  the  kitchen 
drain  apparatus: 
a  is  a  reservoir, 
say  one  foot 
square,  furnished 
four  inches  below 
its  top  with  a 
grate  or  screen  fine  enough  to  prevent  the  escape 


LIERNUR  S   PNEUMATIC   SYSTEM   OF   SEWERAGE.      295 

of  any  coarse  matters  which  might  obstruct  the 
street  sewer,  or  which  it  is  worth  while  to  preserve 
as  manure.  The  bottom  of  the  reservoir  is  curved, 
and  is  connected  with  a  pneumatic  sewer  pipe  ;  the 
outlet  c  takes,  immediately,  the  rise  of  twelve  inches 
needed  to  preserve  the  barometric  resistance.  The 
house  drain  d  discharges  its  contents  into  the  reser- 
voir below  the  screen  ;  it  has  a  bend  trap  deep 
enough  to  give  a  decided  resistance  to  atmospheric 
pressure.  The  flow  from  the  house  passes  into  the 
reservoir  a,  and  its  excess  of  water  rises  through  the 
screen  and  flows  off  at  b.  During  the  day,  more  or 
less  solid  matter  is  accumulated  below  the  screen, 
and  when  the  pneumatic  pressure  is  brought  to  bear, 
by  opening  the  main  pipe  near  the  vacuum  cham- 
ber, it  is,  simultaneously  with  the  closet  pipes, 
emptied  of  its  contents,  and  at  the  same  time  what- 
ever matters  have  adhered  to  the  bottom  of  the 
screen  are  forcibly  blown  away  by  the  pressure  of 
air  descending  through  it.  In  this  way,  while  the 
chief  volume  of  water  or  other  liquid  matters  is  got 
rid  of  at  once  through  the  sewers,  the  more  valuable 
solid  material,  which  would  create  inconvenience  in 
the  sewers,  and  which  has  a  manurial  value,  is 
added  to  the  products  of  the  closets  for  treatment 
with  them  during  the  subsequent  processes  of  the 
system. 

A  locomobile  engine  having  somewhat  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  steam  fire-engine,  carrying  a  steam- 
engine  and  air-pump,  and  followed  by  a  tender  in 
:he  iorm  of  an  iron  tank,  to  which  its  air-pump  mav 


296      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

be  attached,  is  used  during  the  construction  of  the 
work,  before  the  different  street  reservoirs  are  con- 
nected with  a  main  central  pumping  station.  The 
air-pump  is  attached  to  the  opening  at  the  top  of 
the  street  reservoir,  from  which  it  exhausts  the  air, 
making  about  a  three-quarter  vacuum.  The  cocks 
in  the  mains  being  opened,  the  house-wash  of  the 
district  flows  into  the  reservoir,  which  is  then 
closed,  and  the  air-pump  exhausts  the  tank  of 
the  tender.  Then  this  is  closed  and  its  supply 
pipe  is  connected  with  the  pipe  reaching  to  the 
bottom  of  the  reservoir,  when,  the  vatves  being 
opened  and  the  air  being  admitted  to  the  top  of  the 
street  reservoir,  the  contents  of  the  latter  are  sucked 
into  the  tank,  which  may  be  driven  away  to  the 
point  of  discharge. 

This  locomobile  serves  to  demonstrate  the  practi- 
cability of  the  system,  and  is  an  indispensable  ac- 
companiment of  the  earlier  steps  of  construction. 
But  its  purpose  is  only  a  temporary  one,  and  as  fast 
as  may  be  the  street  reservoirs  are  connected  with 
the  central  station,  by  pipes  which  it  is  often  nec- 
essary to  make  larger  than  five  inches  owing  to  the 
quantity  of  liquid  to  be  discharged  through  them. 
Each  central  station  may  answer  for  a  district  of 
Bay  fifty  thousand  or  sixty  thousand  inhabitants. 

At  this  station  a  fixed  engine  and  large  receiving 
tanks  serve  for  the  numerous  street  reservoirs  the 
same  purpose  that  these  (with  the  locomobile)  orig- 
inally served  for  the  houses  of  their  separate  dis- 
tricts. The  tanks  at  this  station  have  sufficient 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.     297 

t-apacity  to  receive  the  contents  of  the  whole  set  of 
street  reservoirs  with  which  they  are  connected,  and 
the  engine  has  a  sufficient  power  to  mairtain  the 
required  vacuum  in  hese  and  in  the  main  pipes. 
By  precisely  the  process  heretofore  explained,  the 
contents  of  the  reservoirs  are  drawn  to  these  tanks, 
and  are  made  ready  for  their  subsequent  treatment. 

The  receiving  tanks  at  the  central  station,  which 
may  be  one  or  more  in  number,  are  large  enough  to 
store  the  contents  of  all  the  street  reservoirs  of  the 
district.  They  are  located  in  the  basement,  and 
each  has  an  indicator  by  which  the  engineer  can  see 
when  it  is  filled.  We  will  now  assume  that  all  of 
the  street  reservoirs  have  been  emptied,  and  that 
the  tanks  in  the  basement  are  filled.  These  tanks 
communicate  by  suction  tubes  with  a  similar  tank 
elevated  above  the  main  floor  of  the  building,  which 
has  also  an  indicator  showing  the  level  of  its  con- 
tents. This  upper  tank  is  exhausted  of  its  air  by 
the  air-pump,  and  the  communication  between  it 
and  the  bottom  of  one  of  the  tanks  in  the  basement 
being  open,  it  fills  itself  with  the  liquid,  which  is 
now  ready  to  be  treated  by  the  poudrette  apparatus. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  allowed  to  flow  into  a  vertical 
tank,  in  the  bottom  of  which  there  are  coils  of  pipe 
connected  with  the  exhaust  pipe  of  the  steam-engine. 

The  steam,  on  its  escape  from  the  exhaust  valve, 
passes  through  a  coil  in  a  superheating  chamber 
where  the  products  of  combustion  on  their  way  to 
bhe  chimney,  flowing  around  the  coil,  give  the  steam 
an  additional  heat.  This  reheated  steam  passing 


298      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

through  the  coils  in  the  evaporating  tank  produces 
a  furious  ebulition  and  a  rapid  evaporation  of  the 
water  of  its  contents.  The  condensation  at  the 
next  stage  of  the  process  of  the  vapors  thus  formed, 
tends  to  produce  a  partial  vacuum  above  the  boiling 
liquid,  so  that  this  rapid  evaporation  may  even  take 
place  at  a  temperature  below  that  of  boiling  water. 
The  condenser  into  which  these  vapors  pass  is  a 
copper  drum,  the  temperature  of  which  they  raise 
probably  to  two  hundred  degrees  Fahrenheit.  This 
drum  revolves  slowly,  its  lower  part  passing  through 
the  semi-desiccated,  pappy  liquid  drawn  from  the 
evaporator  first  described.  As  it  makes  its  slow 
revolution  it  carries  up  a  film  of  the  pap,  which  the 
heat  within  renders  perfectly  dry,  so  that  near  the 
end  of  the  rotation  it  may  be  scraped  off  by  a  sta- 
tionary knife,  and  fall  into  a  receiver  below  in  a 
desiccated  state,  ready  to  be  packed  in  bags  or  bar- 
rels for  agricultural  use. 

This  desiccated  poudrette  contains  all  or  nearly 
all  of  the  organic  refuse  of  the  household,  not  only 
the  contents  of  the  closets,  but  the  particles  of  un- 
used food,  grease,  and  other  solid  constituents  of  the 
kitchen  waste.  The  chief  difference  in  condition 
between  it  and  guano,  or  the  manufactured  pou- 
drette of  commerce,  is  that  the  matters  it  con- 
tains have  had  no  opportunity  to  pass  into  a  state 
of  decomposition.  Ordinarily,  within  thirty-six 
hours  from  the  time  of  their  production  in  the  house 
they  have  all  been  transported  to  the  central  station 
without  exposure  to  the  air,  desiccated,  and  packed 


LIERNUR' s  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.     299 

away.  As  during  the  evaporating  process  a  small 
Quantity  of  sulphuric  acid  is  added  to  the  liquid,  any 
ammonia  produced  by  incipient  fermentation  is  ren- 
dered non-volatile. 

Concerning  the  value  of  this  Liernur  poudrette  I 
have  no  other  evidence  than  the  following  account 
of  Professor  Voelcker's  analysis  given  in  Mr.  Adam 
Scott's  description  of  the  system,  in  the  "  Sanitary 
Record  "  of  November  21, 1874. 

An  analysis  by  Professor  Voelcker,  chemist  of 
the  Royal  Agricultural  Society,  dated  August  15, 
1874,  of  a  sample  submitted  to  him  by  Sir  Philip 
Rose,  Bart.,  showed  it  to  contain  :  — 

Moisture 8.64 

Organic  matter  ! 62.96 

Oxide  of  iron  and  alumina 3.29 

Phosphoric  acid 1.76 

Lima 0.86 

Chlorine 6.22 

Sulphuric  acid 6.02 

Alkaline  salts 8.20 

Silica 2.05 

100.00 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  there  has  been 
no  sufficient  practical  test  made  of  the  value  of  this 
poudrette,  but  when  we  consider  the  substances 
fr  >m  which  it  is  produced,  it  seems  impossible  that 
it  should  not  have  a  great  value,  and  Liernur  and 
his  advocates  bring  ample  theoretical  evidence  in 
support  of  its  claims.  If  it  is  true  that  tlie  waste  of 
khe  constituents  of  food  which  characterizes  the  do- 

i  Containing  nitrogen  9.35,  equal  to  ammonia  11.36. 


300      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

mestic  habits  of  all  our  towns  is  leading  to  the  ulti- 
mate impoverishment  of  our  fields,  we  can  hardly 
regard  with  too  much  interest  any  process  that 
promises  to  restore  so  nearly  the  entire  amount  of 
their  products  consumed  and  squandered  in  our 
households. 

Mr.  Scott,  in  the  article  referred  to,  thus  describes 
the  practical  working  of  the  system :  — 

"  The  air-pump  engine  is  set  in  motion,  and  main- 
tains during  the  day  a  three-quarter  vacuum  in  cer- 
tain central  reservoirs,  placed  below  the  floor  of  the 
building,  and  at  the  same  time  in  the  central  pipes. 
Workmen  perambulate  the  town,  visiting  each  tank 
once  a  day.  To  drain  the  houses  commanded  by 
one  tank,  they  alternately  open  the  connecting  cock 
of  the  central  pipe  and  the  stop-cock  of  any  main 
pipe  ;  the  first  to  obtain  a  vacuum  in  the  tank,  the 
Becond  to  utilize  this  by  emptying  the  closet-pipes 
connected  with  that  particular  main.  After  all  the 
mains  of  the  tanks  in  question  have  been  operated 
upon,  and  their  contents  collected  in  the  tank,  the 
workman  turns  the  discharging  cock  to  send  the 
whole  mass  to  the  central  bulling  for  immediate 
conversion  into  poudrette.  He  then  proceeds  to 
the  next  tank,  there  to  repeat  the  operation." 

One  of  the  minor  objections  anticipated  by  its 
'inventor  to  the  general  introduction  of  this  system 
is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  an  influential  class  in 
every  community  where  the  water  system  has  been 
introduced  may  object  to  any  less  fastidious  substi 
hite  for  the  water-closet.  To  meet  this  objectioi 


LIF-RNUR'S   PNEUMATIC   SYSTEM   OF   SEWERAGE.      301 

Ihere  has  been  devised  an  apparatus,  in  which 
water  is  used,  which  seems  completely  to  compass 
the  requirements,  but  the  practical  need  for  its  use  is 
too  slight  for  it  to  be  considered  as  an  essential  part 
of  the  system.  And  indeed  it  is  better  that  at 
every  step  of  the  process  there  should  be  as  little 
extraneous  water  as  practicable  thrown  into  the 
pipes.  The  natural  product  of  liquid  matters  in 
every  household  is  sufficient  to  insure  the  proper 
pneumatic  action,  and  all  additions  beyond  this 
create  an  increased  demand  for  fuel  for  the  final 
dessication. 

It  is  thought  by  the  advocates  of  the  pneumatic 
sewerage  that  all  other  systems  thus  far  tried,  in 
addition  to  their  danger  to  the  public  health,  are 
necessarily  and  always  very  expensive,  there  being 
no  offset  in  the  way  of  profit  that  can  possibly  les- 
sen the  taxable  charges  required  for  their  construc- 
tion and  operation.  It  is  believed  also  that  these 
taxable  charges  are  an  excuse  for  the  raising  of 
rents,  and  consequently  for  the  crowding  of  the 
working  classes  into  smaller  and  less  commodious 
and  less  healthful  quarters  than  they  might  have 
were  the  town  free  from  the  necessity  for  making 
this  excessive  yearly  outlay. 

It  is  no  doubt  too  early  in  the  history  of  pneu- 
matic sewerage  for  figures  based  on  actual  experi- 
ence to  be  adduced  in  support  of  its  economy,  but 
the  published  estimates,  which  so  far  as  one  can 
judge  are  based  entirely  on  similar  uses  of  steam, 
cost  of  laying  pipes,  etc.,  and  which  are  apparently 


802     SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

reliable  and  correct,  show  that  so  far  from  being  a 
source  of  expense,  the  fsecal  matters  of  the  town 
may  constitute  a  reliable  source  of  income.  Such 
estimates  have  too  often  to  be  modified,  in  the  light 
of  subsequent  experience  in  actual  practice,  to  be 
relied  upon  with  great  confidence,  but  there  seems 
to  be  a  sufficient  margin  to  cover  any  unforeseen  con- 
tingencies and  still  to  leave  an  important  amount 
to  be  credited  against  the  costs  of  working. 

It  is  stated  that  the  cost  of  the  work  in  Amster- 
dam, including  royalties,  engineering,  plant,  ma- 
chinery, and  the  necessary  changes  in  houses,  was 
not  quite  £2  10s.  per  inhabitant.  To  be  on  the 
safe  side,  Mr.  Scott  estimates  that  the  cost  in  an 
English  town  would  be  .£4  per  inhabitant,  and  he 
applies  his  calculation  to  a  town  area  of  250  acres, 
with  a  population  (75  per  acre)  of  18,750,  placing 
the  total  cost  of  the  works  at  £75,000.  So  far  as 
the  Liernur  system  alone  is  concerned,  without  re- 
fering  to  the  storm- water  sewerage,  the  cost  would 
be,  pro  rata,  the  same  for  a  small  town  as  for  a 
large  one,  provided  the  population  is  of  the  same 
density. 

"  Using  the  figures  and  proportions  given  by 
Captain  Liernur,  the  folio  whig  would  be  the  esti- 
mate of  working  expenses  per  day  :  — 

Coal,  —  Power  of  air-pump  engine  required,  80  indicated  horse- 
power. Consumes,  at  5  Ibs.  per  horse-power  per  hour,  in 
twelve  hours,  4,800  Ibs.  coal.  Of  the  caloric  due  to  this  there 
is  converted  into  work  eight  per  cent.,  or  caloric  due  to  384 
Ibs.,  leaving  the  calorics  of  4,800—384=4,416  Ibs.  on  hand  (or 
evaporating  purposes.  There  is,  however,  to  evaporate  54 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    303 

ounces  per  day  for  18,750  persons,  making  63,281  Ibs.  water, 
requiring  with  drying  apparatus  a  double  ejfet,  63,281-f-12= 
5,273  Ibs.  of  coal,  for  which  there  is  left  tlie  abjve  4,416. 
There  is  hence  wanted  5,273—4,416=857  Ibs.  additionally  to 
the  4,800  Ibs.  of  the  air-pump  engine,  making  in  all  4,800+867 
—5,657,  or  say  2£  tons  of  coal  per  day,  which,  at  25s.  per  ton  £«.«/. 

gives 326 

Oil 040 

One  machinist  and  eleven  laborers 200 

Administration,  repairs,  and  sundries 0  13  6 

6    00 

Making  per  year,  £6X365 2,190  0  0 

To  this  would  have  to  be  added,  — 

For  interest  on  capital  of  £75,000  borrowed  from  local 
board,  including  redemption,  at  tour  per  cent,  per  an- 
num   £3,000 

For  renewal  fund  of  machinery,  at  eight  per  cent,   on 

£3,000 240 

3,240  0  0 

Total  expenses 5,430  0  0 

"  The  income  would  be,  however,  the  poudrette 
manure  of  18,750  persons,  which,  at  10s.  per  head, 
gives  annually  the  sum  of  ,£9,375,  leaving,  after  de- 
ducting above  expenses,  nearly  £4,000  annually  as 
clear  profit,  after  paying  every  charge." 

This  calculation  is  based  on  an  estimate  of  ninety 
per  cent,  of  water  and  ten  per  cent,  of  solid  matter 
in  the  liquid  as  it  is  received  at  the  central  station 
By  an  application  of  the  same  data  to  liquid  con- 
taining ninety-five  per  cent,  of  water,  the  cost  of 
evaporation  with  coal  at  twenty-five  shillings  per 
ton  would  be  £1,081  in  addition,  which  would  re- 
duce the  net  profit  from  £3,940  to  £2,869.  It  is  to 
be  observed  that  with  us  his  data  would  have  to  be 


304   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

materially  changed,  the  cost  of  coal  and  labor  being 
much  greater,  interest  being  at  least  six  per  cent, 
instead  of  four  per  cent.,  and  the  agricultural  value 
of  the  product  being  certainly  no  larger. 

What  has  been  thus  far  given  covers  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  Liernur  system  as  derived  from  the 
various  publications  concerning  it.  It  seemed  wor- 
thy of  further  investigation,  and  I  devoted  some 
time  to  its  study  during  a  recent  visit  to  Europe. 

At  Captain  Liernur's  office,  in  Frankfort-on-the- 
Main,  I  was  shown  the  working  drawings  of  every 
part  of  the  system,  and  had  all  its  details  clearly 
explained  by  its  very  intelligent  inventor,  who  to  a 
thorough  familiarity  with  modern  sanitary  engineer- 
ing adds  the  most  unbounded  and  enthusiastic  be- 
lief in  the  merits  of  his  own  invention.  I  learned 
that  steps  are  now  being  taken  for  an  important 
trial  in  the  city  of  St.  Petersburg,  at  the  hands  of  a 
company,  who,  upon  its  success  being  demonstrated, 
hope  for  a  concession  for  the  sewerage  of  the  whole 
town.  The  conditions  there  existing  are  the  same 
as  in  other  places  where  actual  trials  have  been 
made,  save  that  the  intense  cold  and  the  consequent 
necessity  for  placing  the  apparatus  deep  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground  must  increase  the  cost  of  con- 
struction, and,  so  far  as  house-pipes  are  concerned, 
may  present  many  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  The 
use  of  the  system  at  military  barracks  in  Austria 
and  Hungary  was  described  as  having  been  success- 
ful and  profitable,  but  I  was  directed,  for  an  ocular 
demonstration  of  pneumatic  sewerage  in  actual 


LIERNUR'S   PNEUMATIC   SYSTEM   OP    SEWERAGE.      30o 

operation,  to  visit  Amsterdam  and  Leyden,  in  Hol- 
land, where  the  earliest  trials  were  made,  and  Dor- 
fcrecht,  where  the  whole  invention  in  its  entirety  is 
being  adopted. 

At  Dortrecht,  Liernur's  partner,  Mr.  De  Bruyn 
Ivops,  is  constructing  works  for  a  large  part  of  the 
town,  to  be  subsequently  extended  over  the  whole. 
The  central  station  was  nearly  finished,  and  con- 
tained a  thirty-five  horse-power  steam-engine,  and 
an  air-pump  suited  to  its  capacity ;  basement  tanks 
capable  of  holding  two  days'  product  of  the  whole 
town  ;  an  elevated  tank  through  which  to  transfer 
the  liquid  to  the  poudrette  apparatus  ;  and  this  ap- 
paratus itself,  which  was  complete  and  had  been  in 
use.  The  superheating  effect  of  the  escaping  prod- 
ucts of  combustion  had  been  found  insufficient,  and 
a  separate  furnace  with  a  small  fire  had  been  pro- 
vided to  raise  the  heat  of  the  steam  to  the  required 
point.  The  attempt  to  manufacture  poudrette  had 
not  been  entirely  successful,  that  is,  the  product  was 
rather  moist  and  pasty  than  dry,  and  some  modifi- 
cations were  being  made  in  the  machinery  which 
rendered  it  impossible  for  the  station  to  be  at  work 
during  my  visit.  Pending  these  repairs  the  street 
reservoirs  were  being  emptied  by  the  locomobile, 
but  as  I  was  to  see  this  in  operation  in  Amsterdam, 
it  was  not  thought  worth  while  to  bring  it  out.  From 
the  station  we  visited  the  poorest  quarter  of  the 
town,  in  which  the  pipes  had  been  laid,  passing 
through  a  district  that  still  depended  for  its  cleans- 
i;ig  upon  a  sluggish  canal,  —  a  canal  of  the  moat 


306       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

offensive  description,  its  surface  constantly  bubbling 
with  the  gases  of  the  decomposing  filth  it  contained. 
Similar  canals  had  been  filled  up  in  front  of  the 
houses  connected  with  the  pneumatic  system,  and 
this  of  itself  should  be  a  sufficient  improvement  to 
satisfy  the  Dortrecht  authorities  with  their  outlay. 
We  visited  closets  in  houses  and  in  yards,  and  so 
tar  as  I  could  judge  from  the  manner  of  those  who 
exhibited  them,  these  were  perfectly  satisfactory  in 
their  operation.  Equally  unobjectionable  closets  in 
the  houses  of  people  of  a  corresponding  class  I  have 
never  before  seen,  and  my  general  impression  of  the 
condition  of  the  work  in  this  town  was  that  it  may 
be  in  a  fair  way  to  prove  all  that  its  inventor  claims 
fo.r  it,  except  possibly  in  the  manufacture  and  value 
of  the  poudrette. 

The  next  day  we  went  to  Amsterdam,  where 
(and  at  Leyden)  the  first  experiments  with  the 
system  were  made.  It  is  now  in  universal  use  in 
nme  considerable  sections  of  the  town,  and  is  being 
gradually  extended.  The  poudrette  apparatus  is 
not  in  use  there ;  indeed,  the  only  set  thus  far  put 
up  is  the  one  now  being  experimented  with  at  Dor- 
trecht. At  all  the  stations  in  Amsterdam  the  liquid 
is  run  into  barrels  and  transported  to  the  country 
by  canal-boats,  being  sold,  thus  far,  for  a  nominal 
sum,  very  much  less  than  would  be  its  value  here. 

At  the  first  station  which  we  visited  the  engine 
was  out  of  order,  and  we  could  see  nothing  ;  but  at 
the  second  station  it  was  demonstrated  in  my  pres- 
ence that  the  working  of  the  air-pump  and  its  effect 


LIERNUK'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    307 

on  the  street  reservoirs  of  its  district  are  entirely 
satisfactory.  The  liquid  was  transferred  from  house 
pipes  to  several  street  reservoirs,  from  these  to  the 
basement  tanks  at  the  station,  and  from  these  to 
the  elevated  tank  from  which  the  barrels  are  sup- 
plied, with  certainty  and  regularity.  In  one  case  it 
was  necessary  to  carry  a  main  pipe,  by  a  siphon, 
under  a  canal,  and  the  transferring  of  the  liquid 
through  this  was  entirely  successful.  Indeed,  if  the 
object  were  only  to  transport  in  a  quiet,  inoffensive, 
and  entirely  hidden  manner  the  products  of  private 
houses  to  a  depot  whence  they  can  be  inoffensively 
shipped  to  the  country,  my  investigation  seemed  to 
prove  clearly  that  entire  success  had  been  attained. 

I  hoped  before  leaving  Holland  to  be  able  to  see 
the  Dortrecht  poudrette  works  in  successful  opera- 
tion ;  but  a  further  trial,  although  it  showed  a  great 
improvement,  left  something  still  to  be  desired,  and 
the  apparatus  was  not  in  satisfactory  working  at  the 
time  of  my  leaving  the  country. 

In  Amsterdam  we  visited  a  great  number  of 
houses  of  all  classes,  —  a  large  children's  hospital, 
private  houses  of  the  best  class,  tenement  houses 
occupied  by  working  people,  an  old  ladies'  home, 
and  in  one  case  a  nest  of  sailor  boarding-houses, 
which  were  said  to  be  the  worst  in  the  whole  town. 
This  examination  was  of  course  made  under  the 
guidance  of  one  who  was  interested  in  the  success  of 
the  system,  and  it  is  possible  that,  had  I  been  con- 
ducted by  one  opposed  to  it  (and  there  are  such),  I 
might  have  been  shown  instances  of  failure.  As  it 


808      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

was,  I  can  only  say  that  under  all  the  circumstances 
and  conditions,  both  where  the  greatest  attention 
was  given  to  cleanliness  and  where  the  greatest 
neglect  seemed  to  prevail,  I  found  the  condition  of 
an  airs  in  all  cases  good,  and  among  the  lower  classes 
infinitely  better  than  would  be  found  in  similar  es- 
tablishments in  London  or  in  New  York,  where  the 
water  system  and  the  common  vault  prevail,  though 
to  the  eye  a  well-kept  water-closet  is  preferable. 

Subsequently  I  took  occasion  to  talk  with  several 
gentlemen  of  intelligence  in  Holland  about  the  suc- 
cess and  the  prospects  of  the  system.  Of  these, 
none  were  opposed  to  it,  and  some  favored  it  very 
strongly.  Mr.  Van  der  Poll,  the  Dikegraaf  of  the 
Haarlem  Lake  Polder,  who  is  an  engineer  of  high 
standing  and  of  sound  judgment,  gave  it  as  his  opin- 
ion that  it  must  inevitably  come  into  universal  use 
in  all  the  towns  of  Holland,  although  he  was  not 
prepared  to  say  that  it  is  better  than  water  sewer- 
age for  places  where  a  good  and  suitably  located 
outfall  can  be  had.  Another  friend  was  glad  to  get 
my  opinion,  for  the  reason  that  so  much  passion  had 
been  shown  in  all  discussions  of  the  subject  in  Am- 
sterdam that  it  was  impossible  for  disinterested  per- 
sons to  weigh  the  evidence  for  or  against  it.  It  was 
stated  that  there  had  been  very  serious  opposition, 
and  that  the  early  introduction  and  working  had 
been  embarrassed  by  the  fiercest  opposition  of  the 
chief  official  who  was  directed  with  its  execution,  but 
that  in  spite  of  this,  and  of  all  the  drawbacks  at- 
tendant upon  the  education  of  the  people  in  a  new 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.     309 

process,  and  all  the  mistakes  inseparable  from  the 
practical  development  of  a  new  invention,  it  had 
steadily  made  its  way  in  popular  favor,  and  had  es 
pecially  won  the  approval  of  the  city  officials,  under 
whose  direction  it  is  now  carried  on.  (An  official 
told  me  this.)  In  one  instance  a  large  speculator 
in  real  estate,  one  who  buys  blocks  of  ground  and 
builds  houses  for  sale,  had  been  originally  a  very 
strong  opponent,  protesting  most  earnestly  against 
the  introduction  of  the  system  in  districts  in  which 
he  was  interested.  He  is  said  now  to  petition  for 
its  introduction  in  each  new  district  in  which  he 
buys  property. 

These  statements  are  made  with  the  reiterated 
qualification  that  my  investigation  was  made  under 
the  guidance  of  one  who  is  pecuniarily  interested  in 
the  invention,  and  who  had  it  in  his  power  to  mis- 
lead me,  but  who,  I  am  glad  to  say,  impressed  me 
as  a  frank  and  fair-minded  gentleman,  who  made  no 
Attempt  to  conceal  defects,  or  to  bias  my  judgment. 
Since  my  return  I  have  learned  that  Dr.  Folsom, 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Health, 
found  his  inspection  of  the  working  of  the  system  in 
Amsterdam  very  unsatisfactory. 

The  question  that  naturally  suggests  itself  is 
whether  Liernur's  pneumatics  are  to  solve  the  whole 
jewerage  problem.  It  would  no  doubt  be  safe  to 
answer  this,  at  once,  in  the  negative,  but  it  should 
be  a  negative  with  many  qualifications.  The  whole 
problem  is  now  so  entirely  unsolved,  and  is  so  em- 
barrassed with  intricacies  and  difficulties  at  everj 


310   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

turn  ;  it  is  of  such  vital  consequence  when  regarded 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  public  health  ;  and  it 
appeals  so  directly  to  the  strongest  interest  of  every 
householder,  that  no  one  interested  in  the  subject 
can  fail  to  give  very  careful  attention  to  any  sug- 
gestion of  relief  which  promises  so  much  as  Lier- 
nur's  does  promise,  and  which  is  in  all  its  details  so 
complete  and  so  well-balanced,  and  is  apparently  so 
successful  in  each  department  of  its  mechanical 
action. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  been  so  long  relying 
on  the  system  of  water  carriage,  arid  we  have  so 
long  ascribed  to  it  every  advantage,  only  to  find  it 
riddled  and  honey-combed  with  faults,  as  time  has 
brought  us  better  acquainted  with  it ;  and  a  large 
class  has  placed  such  implicit  confidence  in  the  dry- 
earth  system,  only  to  find  it  almost  impossible  of 
introduction  in  an  average  community,  that  no  one 
who  has  been  long  interested  in  the  general  question 
can  be  expected  to  glow  with  enthusiasm  over  any 
new  process  that  may  be  brought  to  notice.  Lier- 
nur  has  struck  out  a  new  path,  but  it  is  a  new  path 
in  an  old  field,  in  which  we  have  learned  to  look  out 
for  pitfalls  and  ambushes  at  every  step.  We  may 
well  hope  (and  I  unreservedly  believe)  that  there  is 
much  in  his  invention  that  is  of  intrinsic  value,  and 
that  it  will  perhaps  accomplish  all  that  we  have  so 
long  sought.  At  the  same  time  its  success  is  cer- 
tainly not  to  be  achieved  through  a  blind  enthusi- 
asm, ready  to  accept  it  as  the  final  cure  of  the  great 
and  universal  disease  in  our  domestic  economies 
against  which  it  proposes  to  contend. 


LIEKNUB'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.    311 

While,  therefore,  it  is  to-day  unquestionably  the 
most  interesting  new  fact  in  sanitary  engineering, 
and  is  worthy  of  the  most  careful  experiment  and 
even  the  most  expensive  investigation  at  the  hands 
of  local  governments,  the  investigation  and  the  ex- 
periment should  be  made  with  a  clear  understanding 
that  the  time  given  to  them  and  the  money  spent 
upon  them  may  bring  but  little  return.  The  diffi- 
culties we  are  contending  with  are  so  grave,  and  the 
dangers  to  life  and  health  and  usefulness  are  so 
threatening,  that  we  may  well  afford  to  tax  our- 
selves as  largely  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to  de- 
monstrate whether  this  new  process,  for  which  so 
much  is  claimed  and  which  has  so  many  firm  adher- 
ents among  those  who  have  been  living  under  its 
daily  operation  for  some  years,  is  or  is  not  to  open 
the  door  for  our  escape.  Much  that  has  hitherto 
been  written  about  it  has  been  of  that  enthusiastic 
and  confident  character  that  made  its  success  appear 
at  first  blush  a  foregone  conclusion.  It  seems  to  be 
better  that,  however  great  our  individual  confidence 
may  be,  —  and  I  repeat  that  my  own  is  very  great, 
—  we  should  undertake  this  trial  resolutely  and 
determinedly,  but  should  at  the  same  time  be  quite 
prepared  for  entire  or  partial  failure. 

The  more  ardent  advocates  of  the  system  lay 
great  stress  upon  its  economical  features,  and  seem 
to  depend  very  much  upon  the  prospect  of  profit  for 
the  reinforcement  of  their  arguments.  Let  us  rather 
take  the  wiser  course  of  throwing  the  questions  of 
profit  and  economy  entirely  into  the  background, 


312      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

where  they  belong.  This  is  a  subject  that  reaches 
much  farther  than  any  pecuniary  interest,  and  it  is 
one  whose  pecuniary  interest  centres  much  more  in 
the  lengthened  life  and  full,  healthful  efficiency  of 
our  populations  than  in  any  question  of  the  cost  of 
constructing  works,  or  of  proceeds  from  the  sale  of 
manure.  If  it  is  found  that  with  our  price  of  ma- 
chinery, labor,  fuel,  interest,  and  manure  we  can 
sell  the  product  of  Liernur's  poudrette  apparatus  or 
the  liquid  drawn  from  Liernur's  vacuum  tanks  at  a 
price  that  will  give  a  profit,  or  even  will  help  ma- 
terially to  defray  the  expense  of  the  system,  it  will 
be  so  much  gained ;  but  our  people  are  quite  pre- 
pared to  take  such  a  view  of  the  sanitary  question  as 
makes  all  this  far  less  than  secondary.  If  the  ele- 
ments of  fertility  can  be  saved  for  return  to  our 
fields,  and  so  continue  and  increase  our  prosperity, 
the  benefit  resulting  will  be  immeasurable  ;  but  this 
benefit  is,  to  the  common  understanding,  too  vague 
and  theoretical  to  have  much  influence  on  the  minds 
of  the  average  denizens  of  towns. 

Any  prudent  community,  interested  in  the  refor- 
mation of  its  present  health-destroying  process,  will 
naturally  and  properly  set  aside  all  considerations 
of  this  character,  and  make  their  investigations  of 
Liernur's  pneumatic  sewerage,  or  of  any  other  sys- 
tem that  may  promise  them  relief,  with  an  almost 
sole  view  to  the  completeness  of  its  sanitary  advan- 
tages, and  to  its  practicability  from  a  mechanical 
and  commercial  point  of  view. 

All  that  it  is  safe  to  say  about  the  system  now,  ii> 


LIERNUR'S  PNEUMATIC  SYSTEM  OF  SEWERAGE.   313 

its  relation  to  our  own  condition,  is  that  it  is,  as  re- 
garded in  the  light  of  what  we  know  about  the 
water  system  and  the  dry-earth  system,  sufficiently 
promising  to  justify  the  most  energetic  investigation. 
So  far  as  I  know,  its  opponents  have  adduced  noth- 
ing against  it  that  may  not  be  remedied  by  practica- 
ble mechanical  improvements,  and  its  advocates, 
who  are  many,  speak  of  its  advantages  with  a  confi- 
dence that,  often  at  least,  has  grown  from  favorable 
experience  of  its  practical  working. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  DISPOSAL  OF  SEWAGE. 

THE  problem  of  sewage  disposal  is  always  seri- 
ous, and  it  becomes  more  and  more  so,  as  popula- 
tion increases,  and  as  sewered  towns  multiply 
How  to  get  rid  of  the  offscourings  of  any  commu- 
nity in  such  a  way  that  there  shall  be  no  return 
of  offensive  and  dangerous  odors;  that  there  shall 
be  no  accumulation  of  foul  matters  inconveniently 
near ;  and  that  there  shall  be  no  tainting  of  the 
source  of  the  water  supply  of  other  towns,  is  a  ques- 
tion which  taxes,  and  often  overtaxes  the  ingenu- 
ity of  the  engineer,  and  the  paying  capacity  of  the 
finance  department. 

The  limits  of  this  book  would  not  suffice  for  an 
adequate  description  of  the  varied  experience  of 
English  towns  in  this  matter.  After  years  of 
trial,  and  millions  of  expenditure,  the  authorities 
on  the  subject  are  widely  at  variance  as  to  what 
may  best  be  done,  and  the  more  prudent  of  those 
who  have  given  thought  to  the  matter  seem  as  far 
as  ever  from  accepting  any  result  yet  accomplished 
as  satisfactory. 

Many  schemes  are  urged  by  enthusiastic  advo- 
cates, as  offering  sovereign  remedies  for  the  evil. 
All  of  these  attach  more  or  less  weight  to  the  value 


THE   DISPOSAL   OF  SEWAGE.  315 

of  the  material  under  consideration  for  fertilizing 
purposes,  and  those  are  not  few  who  have  hoped 
to  derive  from  the  use  of  sewer  water  large  profits 
in  return,  from  the  adoption  of  their  various  devices. 
I  can  only  say  here,  that  none  of  these  schemes 
have  so  far  achieved  the  success  claimed  for  them, 
as  to  gain  the  confidence  of  the  engineering  world 
at  large.  The  facts  remain  that  the  material  in 
question  is  extremely  troublesome ;  that  it  must  be 
got  rid  of  in  some  way  at  all  hazards  ;  that  it  must 
not  be  allowed  to  injure  the  health  of  those  pro- 
ducing it,  or  of  other  communities,  and,  worst  of  all, 
that  its  manurial  value  seems  to  be  less  than  is 
needed  for  its  profitable  use  (unless  in  a  few  special 
cases)  under  the  plans  thus  far  devised.  Without 
going  at  all  into  the  question  of  the  disposal  of  the 
sewage  of  large  towns,  farther  than  it  has  already 
been  considered  in  earlier  chapters,  I  propose  merely 
to  call  attention  to  one  or  two  devices  which  seem  to 
afford  relief  in  the  case  of  small  villages,  and  espe- 
?ially  of  large  or  small  private  establishments. 

IRRIGATION. 

As  a  general  principle  it  may  be  stated  that  in 
sewage  irrigation  the  amount  of  land  appropriated 
should  not  be  less  than  one  acre  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  of  population,  and  should  lie  not  more  than 
a  mile  from  the  town.  The  same  land  should  not 
receive  sewage  two  days  in  succession,  and  each 
area  should  have  occasional  periods  of  rest  for  a 
whole  growing  season. 


316   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

If  the  land  is  of  a  very  retentive  character,  even 
if  well  underdrained,  it  would  be  better  to  allow  one 
acre  to  one  hundred  of  population. 

This  applies  to  the  ordinary  irrigation  of  agricult- 
ural fields,  by  surface  flow,  but  Mr.  J.  Bailey  Den- 
ton,  who  is  an  old,  and  very  accomplished  drainage 
engineer,  adopted  a  new  system  in  treating  the  sew- 
age of  Merthyr-Tydvil,  in  Wales,  which  has  there 
had  a  success  that  seems  fully  to  justify  its  repeti- 
tion wherever  a  suitable  soil,  and  a  sufficiently  mild 
climate  admit  of  it.  In  this  case  the  purpose  was 
not  especially  to  turn  the  sewage  to  profit,  but  to 
purify  it  of  its  organic  matters,  so  that  it  could  be 
run  into  a  stream  without  polluting  its  waters.  Mr. 
Denton  calls  this  system  "  Intermittent  Downward 
Filtration."  A  gravelly  soil  is  thoroughly  under- 
drained  at  a  depth  of  six  feet,  and  is  divided  into 
two  separate  plots  to  which  the  sewage  is  applied 
alternately.  After  a  certain  amount  has  passed 
through  one  field  the  supply  is  turned  on  to  the  sec- 
ond, and  the  first  is  allowed  to  become  thoroughly 
aerated,  and  so  cleansed  by  the  oxidation  of  the  or- 
ganic matters  that  it  has  taken  up,  as  to  be  ready 
*gain  to  serve  its  purpose  as  a  filter. 

The  latest  report  from  these  irrigating  fields, 
which  have  now  been  several  years  in  use,  comes 
from  Dr.  Dyke,  the  health  officer  of  Merthyr-Tydvil, 
whose  last  annual  report  bears  testimony  in  favor  of 
the  system  of  intermittent  downward  filtration. 
Speaking  of  a  plat  of  twenty  acres  laid  out  to  re- 
teive  sewage  on  Mr.  Bailey  Denton's  plan,  Mr 


THE  DISPOSAL   OF  SEWAGE.  317 

Dyke  declares  that  the  system  is  cleanly,  odorless, 
and  perfect  in  all  its  details.  As  a  part  of  his  duty, 
he  has  from  time  to  time  examined  the  water  flow- 
ing from  the  outlet,  and  has  satisfied  himself  that 
there  has  been  no  perceptible  increase  in  the  amount 
of  its  organic  matter.  In  July,  1872,  it  was  proved 
by  the  investigation  made  by  Dr.  Frankland  to  con- 
tain only  one  part  of  organic  matter  in  200,000  parts 
of  water  ;  and  in  1874  it  was  found  still  just  as  free 
from  impurity,  showing  that  no  saturation  of  the 
soil  with  filth  took  place,  the  growth  of  vegetables 
on  the  surface,  and  the  aeration  effected  by  drainage 
doing  the  work  of  purification  effectually.  In  an- 
other part  of  the  report,  which  treats  of  the  classes 
of  disorders  met  with  in  the  district,  Dr.  Dyke  re- 
calls certain  prophecies,  made  when  the  sewage- 
farm  system  was  introduced,  that  the  vegetables 
grown  under  its  means  would  act  prejudicially  on 
the  public  health.  So  far  from  this  being  the  case 
at  Merthyr,  there  are  hundreds  of  young  children 
brought  up  on  the  milk  of  stall  kept  cows,  fed  par- 
tially on  grass  grown  on  sewage-irrigated  meadows ; 
yet  the  mortality  among  them  from  diarrhoea  and 
similar  complaints  is  exceptionally  low,  and  all 
medical  men  in  the  district  agree  that  this  type  of 
disease  among  persons  of  all  ages  has  diminished  of 
*ate  years,  for  the  plain  reason,  no  doubt,  that 
whilst  sewage-irrigated  vegetables  have  been  intro- 
duced, a  good  water-supply  and  a  thorough  system 
of  drainage  have  been  introduced  with  them.1 

i  Sanitary  Record,  October  30,  1875. 


318       SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AN1>    TOWNS. 

ABTIFICIAL  PURIFICATION. 

The  following  account  of  the  experience  at  Cov- 
entry (England),  illustrates  very  well  one  of  the 
more  successful  cleansing  processes. 

The  corporation  of  Coventry,  having  been  ordered 
by  the  Court  of  Chancery  to  discontinue  the  pollution 
of  the  river  Sherburne,  contracted  with  The  General 
S3wage  Company  for  the  treatment  of  their  sewage. 
The  works  were  completed  in  April,  1874,  since 
which  time  they  have  been  constantly  working  in 
the  most  satisfactory  manner.  An  average  of  two 
million  gallons  are  treated  daily.  "  The  sewage, 
strained  and  freed  from  its  grosser  contents,  passes 
through  a  block  of  buildings  where  it  receives  con- 
tinuously a  charge  of  sulphate  of  alumina  in  solu- 
tion, and  is  thoroughly  mixed  therewith.  These 
buildings  are  well  provided  with  steam-engines, 
boilers,  and  mixers,  as  well  as  ample  machinery  of 
a  first-class  character,  adapted  not  only  for  the 
admixture  of  the  chemicals  with  the  sewage,  but 
also  for  the  manufacture  of  the  chemicals  employed. 
The  effluent  water  is  in  a  sufficient  state  of  purity 
to  enter  most  rivers  or  the  sea.  It  is,  however,  in 
this  condition,  subjected  to  a  process  of  filtration, 
and  for  that  purpose  is  conveyed  to  a  filter-bed 
properly  drained  and  prepared.  It  has  been  found 
that  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  land  (four 
acres  and  a  half)  would  suffice  to  filter  the  effluent 
water  from  the  sewage  of  Coventry.  Nine  acres 
have,  however,  been  prepared,  for  the  purpose  of 


THE   DISPOSAL   OF   SEWAGE.  319 

always  having  another  filter-bed  'ready  when  the  one 
last  in  use  requires  rest  or  repair.  The  effluent 
water,  as  it  passes  into  the  river  Sherburne  from  the 
three  large  mains  of  the  filter,  at  the  rate  of  about 
80,000  gallons  per  hour,  is  clear  and  bright,  and  not 
only  so,  but  of  a  high  standard  of  purity,  as  is  showL 
by  the  analysis  of  it  made  by  Dr.  Voelcker,  who 
says  :  '  The  water  has  no  perceptible  smell,  an  1  is 
almost  free  from  color  ;  it  contains  but  little  or- 
ganic (albuminoid)  ammonia,  and  not  much  more 
than  half  a  grain  of  saline  ammonia  per  gallon. 
And,  further,  that  the  nitrogenous  organic  constitu- 
ents of  raw  sewage  appear  to  have  become  oxidized 
and  changed  into  nitrates  to  a  very  large  extent.' 
The  sewage  of  Coventry,  at  noon,  has  been  found 
to  contain  as  much  as  5.85  parts  of  ammonia  in 
100,000  parts." 

The  sludge  or  solid  precipitated  matter  amounting 
to  about  twenty  tons  per  day  is  dried  and  sold  foi 
manure.  The  process  requires  chemicals  to  the 
value  of  £2  12*.  10<i  (say  about  $13),  for  the  puri- 
fication of  one  million  gallons.  The  whole  sewage 
operation  at  Coventry  cost  per  annum  about  5d.  or 
§d.  per  head  of  population. 

THE   DENTON  AND   FIELD   STORAGE   TANK. 

In  order  to  secure  an  intermittent  flow  for  tho 
general  application  of  his  downward  filtration  sys- 
tem, Mr.  Bailey  Denton  has,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Field,  applied  the  principle  of  the  Flush  Ta^nk  to 
the  use  in  agricultural  irrigation  of  the  sewage  of 


320   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

small  communities,  —  where  the  constant  stream  it 
too  slight  to  secure  the  flooding  of  a  sufficient  aroa 
for  an  economical  use  of  the  sewage,  and  for  inter- 
mittent application  to  successive  fields. 

At  the  hamlet  of  Eastwick  near  Leatherhead,  in 
Surry,  this  system  has  been  in  operation  for  the  past 
three  or  four  years  and  as  this  is  the  oldest  experi- 
ment with  a  new  and  apparently  very  valuable  de- 
vice, it  seems  worth  while  to  reproduce  the  descrip- 
tion of  it  from  Dr.  Simon's  report  of  1874  (Netten 
Radcliffe's  paper). 

"  Eastwick  is  a  hamlet  of  fifteen  houses,  including 
the  mansion  of  the  proprietor  and  the  farm  home 
stead  ;  and  it  has  a  population  of  about  one  hundred 
and  forty-five.  In  devising  a  system  of  excrement 
and  slop  disposal  for  the  place,  any  general  plan  of 
water  sewerage  had  to  be  set  aside,  the  water  de 
rived  from  wells  being  variable  in  quantity,  and  at 
no  time  too  abundant  for  ordinary  domestic  use,  ir- 
respective of  water-closets.  The  common  privy  was 
retained  for  the  cottages,  but  the  privy-pit  was  con- 
verted into  a  water-tight  receptacle  beneath  the 
floor  of  the  closet,  and  the  cottagers  were  instructed 
to  throw  into  it  above  the  excrement,  the  refuse 
ashes,  and  to  remove  the  contents  of  the  pit  monthly 
for  use  in  their  gardens.  Four  water-closets  exis» 
and  five  earth-closets  for  the  use  of  the  mansion  ana 
its  precincts ;  and  one  water  closet  and  three  earth- 
closets  for  the  use  of  the  farm  homestead.  To  pro- 
vide for  the  liquid  house  refuse  of  the  hamlet,  and 
for  the  drainage  of  the  farm  buildings,  the  schenw 


THE  DISPOSAL   OF  SEWAGE.  321 

of  sewerage  was  carried  out  by  Mr.  Bailey  Denton, 
which  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  plan,  and  which 
has  an  outlet  in  a  meter  tank,  of  which  the  plan 
and  section  are  given  in  the  following  Figures." 

"  The  tank  is  in  two  compartments  to  admit  of 
cleansing  without  entire  disuse.  It  has  a  capacity 
of  five  hundred  gallons,  and  it  fills  and  discharges 
in  ordinary  dry  weather  three  times  in  two  days- 
The  several  discharges  are  directed  successively  in 
different  portions  of  a  plot  of  ground  prepared  for 
the  purpose,  and  which  measuring  three  roods  three 
perches,  serves  ordinarily  for  the  effective  and  profit- 
able utilization  of  the  whole  liquid  refuse  of  the 
several  cottages,  the  mansion,  and  the  farmstead. 
The  drainage  of  the  latter  includes  the  flow  from 
cattle  sheds  and  stables,  in  which  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  animals  are  always  present,  and  about  thirty 
head  of  horned  cattle,  and  thirty  horses  at  intervals. 
The  drainage  of  a  large  piggery  also  passes  to  the 
tanks. 

"  Luxuriant  crops  have  been  grown  upon  the  irri- 
gated land,  last  year's  crop  consisting  of  the  thou- 
sand-headed cabbage.  Of  this  crop,  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son,  the  steward  of  the  estate,  says :  '  Besides 
thriving  so  well  upon  the  sewage,  it  is  an  excellent 
food  for  milk  cows,  being  less  strong  in  taste  than 
the  drumhead  and  not  having  any  but  a  good  effect 
upon  the  milk.  The  thousand -head  can  also  be 
used  as  human  food.  I  estimate  the  value  of  the 
crops  obtained  at  X25  per  annum,  or  at  the  rate  of 
£32  10s.  per  acre;  and  the  outlay  in  attendance 
ai 


Figure  29.  —  Denton  and  Field's  Sewage  Meter,  Plan. 


figure  31. 


THE   DISPOSAL   OF   SEWAGE.  325 

apon  the  land  and  the  regulator  ("  meter  ")  I  put 
down  at  £1  16*.' 

"  Mr.  Bailey  Dentou,  to  whom  I  am  also  indebted 
for  the  plan,  has  courteously  sent  me  the  following 
statement  of  the  cost  of  the  works  above  described, 
including  the  '  meter '  and  the  preparation  of  the 
land,  and  he  remarks  upon  this  statement  that, 
'  the  yearly  return,  after  deducting  the  cost  of  attend- 
ance upon  the  sewaged  land  and  regulator  cannot 
be  less  than  X17  per  annum,  so  that  already  a  re- 
turn of  about  five  per  cent,  on  the  outlay  is  gained, 
while  there  is  every  prospect  of  increasing  that  re- 
turn as  the  quantity  of  sewage  dealt  with  becomes 
greater  and  its  treatment  becomes  better  under- 
stood. 

EASTWICK  SEWERAGE. 

£     i.  d, 

To  payment  for  labor 179    4 

pipes     .        .        .        .        .        103    7 
stone,  lime,  cement,  and  sand    .    12  14  1 
iron  and  lead  work         .        .        20    5 
carriage  of  materials          .        .19 
Traveling  and  incidental  expenses  ...         3  12 


320  11    4 

"  In  regard  to  abatement  of  slop  nuisance,  and  I 
may  add  also  largely  of  farm  nuisance,  among  a 
rural  community,  the  arrangements  at  Eastwick  are 
the  most  complete  and  satisfactory  I  have  yet  seen. 
Notwithstanding  the  contiguity  of  the  irrigated  land 
to  the  mansion,  no  nuisance  is  experienced  from  it, 
whereas  previous  to  the  present  arrangements,  when 
the  slops  of  the  mansion  a^id  cottages  found  theii 


326      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


way  into  neighboring  ditches  and  decomposed 
considerable  nuisance  had  existed.  With  some 
structural  alterations  in  the  privies  (the  principles 
of  which  are  stated  in  their  proper  place  in  this  re- 
port), and  such  needed  supervision  as  will  now  be 
obtained  from  the  sanitary  authority  appointed  un- 
der the  Public  Health  Act,  1872,  the  arrangements 
at  East  wick  may  be  regarded  as  a  pattern  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  villages  and  small  towns  similarly  circum- 
stanced. 

"  From  what  has  already  been  said  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  '  Automatic  Sewage  Meter  '  ad- 
mits of  wide  application  in  removing  the  difficulties 
which  often  beset  the  disposal  of  the  sewage  of  com- 
munities larger  than  Eastwick.  It  simplifies  the 
'whole  question  of  dealing  with  the  sewage  of  small 
towns,  villages,  isolated  institutions,  and  mansions, 
while  securing  the  most  efficient  application  of  the 
sewage  to  land,  both  for  purification  and  utilization, 
with  the  least  expenditure  of  labor." 

J.  A.  Davenport,  in  his  paper  on  Village  Sanita- 
tion and  Rural  Drainage  and  Habitations,  says  with 
leference  to  the  disposal  of  slop  water  through  open 
drain  pipes  laid  near  the  surface  :  — 

"  I  have  in  my  district  a  block  of  eight  or  ten 
houses  (belonging  to  Mr.  Owen  Lant  of  Nan  t  wick) 
that  have  been  drained  on  this  system  for  two  years 
past,  and  all  is  working  well  up  to  the  present  time, 
with  no  signs  of  choking.  Most  of  this  class  of  work 
is  roughly  done,  and  under  conditions  rendering  a 
good  result  a  matter  of  some  doubt,  still  so  far  it  i* 


THE  DISPOSAL   OF  SEWAGE.  327 

as  satisfactory  as  might  be  expected.  A  considera- 
ble number  of  houses  in  this  district  are  drained 
upon  this  system,  but  I  mention  Mr.  Lant's  houses 
as  being  the  first  that  were  dealt  with  and  which 
have  therefore  stood  the  longest  test.  The  difficul- 
ties in  persuading  and  arranging  as  to  this  particu- 
lar system  have  been  great,  for  ordinary  people  do 
not  quite  comprehend  it.  Many  heads  have  been 
shaken  over  it,  and  some  of  the  attempts  at  carry- 
ing ii  out  would  be  amusing  to  relate.  The  only 
principle  that  I  have  considered  it  safe  to  act  upon 
is  to  deal  with  all  foul  liquids  by  the  soil ;  get  them 
properly  on  to  it  or  through  it  as  quickly  as  possi- 
ble, and  in  suggesting  any  rural  drainage  I  have 
always  kept  this  end  in  view.  The  system  sketched 
out,  or  some  little  variation  of  it,  which  will  fre- 
quently be  necessary,  looking  at  the  varying  condi- 
tions under  which  such  work  has  to  be  carried  out, 
will,  I  venture  to  think,  generally  in  the  country  be 
found  to  furnish  a  fair  solution  of  the  difficulty.  I 
I  have  sub-irrigating  drains  in  gardens  in  my  dis- 
trict, where  the  soil  is  heavy,  and  they  are  at  pres- 
ent working  well.  Probably  for  villages,  etc.,  no 
better  method  of  dealing  with  their  sewage  could 
be  adopted  than  that  provided  by  the  automatic 
sewage  meter  tank.  It  has  been  mentioned  before, 
that  the  irregular  flow  of  sewage  on  to  land  (at 
times  a  mere  dribble,  and  at  other  times  flowing 
more  copiously)  has  been  a  difficulty  in  its  successful 
application.  The  '  Automatic  Sewage  Tank '  meets 
this  difficulty.  By  this  means  the  flow  of  sewage 


328      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

from  the  tank  may  be  regulated,  it  being  not  at  all 
dependent  upon  the  flow  into  it." 

Mr.  Davenport  thus  describes  the  Eastwick  ex- 
periment :  — 

"  From  London  to  Leatherhead  by  rail,  —  a  de- 
lightful walk  thence  brings  one  to  the  little  village 
of  Eastwick,  the  drainage  of  which  is  dealt  with  on 
this  system ;  the  tank  here  holds  five  hundred  gal- 
lons, discharging  itself  in  dry  weather  three  times  in 
two  days,  and  receives  the  slops,  etc.,  from  thirteen 
houses,  including  farm  and  mansion,  representing  a 
population  of  about  one  hundred  and  forty-five. 
The  sewage  is  utilized  upon  a  trifle  more  than  three 
fourths  of  an  acre  of  land.  The  cost  of  the  works, 
some  ,£320  may  look,  in  the  first  instance  large, 
but  it  is  calculated  that  a  return  of  .£17  or  something 
like  five  per  cent,  upon  the  capital,  is  obtained  upon 
the  sewaged  land.  I  was  much  pleased  with  my 
visit  here.  There  was  an  absence  of  nuisance  about 
houses,  good  drainage,  and  certainly  the  best  method 
of  ultimately  disposing  of  village  sewage  that  I  had 
seen.  Before  adopting  any  system  of  dealing  with 
small  quantities  of  sewage,  I  would  advise  any  one 
interested  to  go  and  see  for  themselves  the  drainage 
arrangements  at  the  little  village  of  Eastwick." 

My  own  experiment  with  this  system  of  irrigation 
by  subsoil  pipes,  which  has  for  the  past  six  or  seven 
years  been  eminently  satisfactory,  was  instigated 
by  the  following  which  was  extracted  from  an  early 
advertising  circular  of  Moule's  Patent  Earth-Closet 
Company  in  London. 


THE  DISPOSAL   OF  SEWAGE.  329 

"HOUSE  SLOPS,   ETC. 

"  Where  there  is  a  garden,  the  house-slops  and 
sink- water  may,  in  most  cases,  be  made  of  great 
value,  and  removed  from  the  house  without  the 
least  annoyance.  The  only  requirement  is  that 
there  shall  be  a  gradual  incline  from  the  house  to 
the  garden.  Let  all  the  slops  fall  into  a  trapped 
sink,  the  drain  from  which  to  the  garden  should 
be  of  glazed  socket  pipes,  well  jointed,  and  empty- 
ing itself  into  a  small  tank,  eighteen  inches  deep, 
about  one  foot  wide,  and  of  such  length  as  may  be 
necessary.  The  surplus  rain-water  from  the  roof 
may  also  enter  this.  Out  of  this  tank,  lay  three 
inch  common  drain-pipes,  eight  feet  apart,  and 
twelve  inches  below  the  surface.  Lay  mortar  at  top 
and  bottom  of  the  joint,  leaving  the  sides  open.  If 
these  pipes  are  extended  to  a  considerable  length, 
small  tanks,  about  one  foot  square  and  eighteen 
inches  deep,  must  be  sunk  at  about  every  twenty  or 
forty  feet,  to  allow  for  subsidence.  These  can  easily 
be  emptied  as  often  as  required ;  and  the  deposit 
may  be  either  mixed  with  dry  earth  or  be  dug  in  at 
once  as  a  manure.  The  liquid  oozes  into  the  culti- 
vated soil ;  and  the  result  is  something  fabulous. 
This  simple  plan  will  effectually  deal  with  the 
slops  ;  there  is  no  smell,  no  possibility  of  any  foul 
gas  to  poison  the  atmosphere,  and  with  this,  and  the 
produce  of  the  earth-closet,  any  ground  may  be 
productive  and  profitable. 

"  The  two  following  facts  will  illustrate  the  value 
»f  thie, system  of  dealing  with  house-slops,  etc. 


330   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

"  On  a  wall  fifty-five  feet  in  length  and  sixteen 
feet  high  a  vine  grows.  A  three-inch  pipe  runs 
parallel  with  this  at  a  distance  of  six  feet  from  it  for 
the  entire  length  ;  the  slops  flow  through  this  pipe 
as  above  described.  On  this  vine,  year  after  year, 
had  been  grown  four  hundred  well-ripened  bunches 
of  grapes,  some  of  the  bunches  weighing  three 
quarters  of  a  pound.  During  a  period  of  four  years, 
for  a  certain  purpose,  the  supply  was  cut  off.  To 
the  surprise  of  the  gardener,  scarcely  any  grapes 
during  those  years  appeared ;  but  afterwards  the 
supply  was  restored,  and  the  consequence  was  an 
abundant  crop  ;  the  wood  grew  fully  sixteen  feet,  of 
good  size  and  well  ripened. 

"  The  other  case  was  as  follows :  — 

"  Pipes  were  laid  below  two  square  yards  of  earth, 
twelve  inches  beneath  the  surface,  which  were  fed 
with  the  slops  through  an  upright  pipe,  about  one 
large  watering-potful  daily.  In  the  month  of 
November,  three  roots  of  Tartarian  oats  were  planted 
in  this  piece  of  ground.  The  stalks  attained  one 
inch  and  a  quarter  in  circumference ;  the  leaves 
measured  an  inch  across. 

"  Several  of  the  ears  were  twenty-six  inches  long, 
and  when  the  crop  was  gathered  eight  hundred 
grains  were  rubbed  out  of  one  ear.  The  whole 
weight  of  corn  from  those  plants  was  three  quarters 
of  a  pound.  Twelve  of  these  grains  were  put  into 
the  same  piece  of  ground  the  following  year :  from 
these  was  grown  one  pound  and  three  quarters  of 
seed.  IT.  fact,  in  a  garden  of  twenty  perches,  bj 


THE  DISPOSAL   OF   SEWAGE.  331 

the  use  of  both  solid  and  liquid  manure  from  one 
house,  three  crops  were  grown  in  the  year,  the  value 
of  which  at  market  price  would  be  twenty  pounds. 

"  In  a  garden  in  which  this  plan  has  been  adopted 
for  eight  or  ten  years,  the  pipes  were  recently  taken 
up  in  order  to  see  how  far  they  might  have  been 
filled  with  the  mud  of  subsidence.  After  so  long 
use,  very  little  subsidence  was  found,  and  none  to 
obstruct  the  working  of  the  system,  excepting  where, 
in  one  or  two  places,  the  bad  laying  of  the  pipes 
caused  some  obstruction.  There  was  nothing  which 
might  not  at  any  time  be  remedied  in  half  an  hour. 

"  It  will  be  easily  seen  that  this  mode  of  remov- 
ing sink- water  and  slops  can  be  applied  to  towns  or 
districts  of  towns.  Whilst  the  application  of  liquid 
sewage,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  expression,  to 
the  purposes  of  irrigation  will  be  generally  impossi- 
ble, either  from  the  want  of  proper  land  or  proper 
fall,  or  the  extravagant  cost  of  pumping,  or  the 
difficulty  of  irrigating  during  frost  or  during  har- 
vest, this  small  portion  of  the  refuse-matter  of 
towns,  rendered  more  easy  of  distribution  by  the 
admixture  of  rain-water,  can  be  pumped  to  any 
height,  even  to  land  above  the  town,  at  all  seasons 
and  under  all  circumstances.  During  the  hard  frost 
of  1867,  the  sub-irrigation  in  the  garden  above  men- 
tioned has  continued  without  the  slightest  interrup- 
tion." 

For  how  large  a  community  the  Denton  and 
Field  Storage  Tank  might  be  made  useful  we  have 
as  yet  no  experience  to  determine.  All  that  can  be 


332       SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

said  for  it  at  the  present  time  is,  that  so  far  as  pri- 
vate houses,  factories,  hotels,  asylums,  and  small 
communities  are  concerned,  it  offers  a  means  for 
the  complete  solution  of  the  slop  question  in  a 
manner  that  will  give  at  least  some  return  for  the 
outlay,  for  in  every  case  where  this  underground 
irrigation  is  used,  there  is  quite  sure  to  be  a  greater 
or  less  increase  of  fertility. 

NOTE,  2d  edition. — Attention  is  called  to  the  account  given  in  my 
Village  Improvements  and  Farm  Villages  (Boston :  Houghton,  Osgood 
&  Co.),  of  the  later  application  of  the  system  of  sub-surface  irrigation, 
especially  as  applied  to  the  sewerage  of  the  village  of  Lenox,  Mass. 

This  system  is  now  a  demonstrated  success,  so  much  so  that  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Board  of  Health,  in  a  circular  issued  in  April,  1879,  speaks  of 
ft  as  "  the  best "  means  of  disposal  where  there  are  no  public 
•nd  where  water-closets  are  used. 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  DRAINING  OP  A  VILLAGE.1 

I  WAS  called,  in  the  early  part  of  1878,  to  ex- 
amine the  village  of  Cumberland  Mills,  Maine, 
where  there  had  been  an  undue  amount  of  disease, 
indicating  a  possible  defect  of  drainage.  The  vil- 
lage is  chiefly  owned  by  Messrs.  S.  D.  Warren  and 
Company,  of  Boston,  and  its  population  is  mainly 
employed  in  their  large  paper  mill.  They  had  taken 
every  measure  that  had  occurred  to  them  to  provide 
in  the  best  manner  for  the  comfort  and  welfare  of 
their  people,  and  had  expended  in  drains,  sewers, 
and  other  sanitary  appliances  a  very  large  sum ; 
they  had,  in  short,  conscientiously  done  their  very 
best,  under  the  lights  available  to  them,  to  make 
their  village  a  model  of  healthfulness  and  conven- 
ience. 

I  found  on  every  hand  ample  evidence  of  elaborate 
and  costly  work,  of  a  character  appropriate  to  the 
different  classes  of  buildings.  The  agent's  house 
had  the  usual  conveniences  and  the  usual  defects  of 
a  first-class  house  in  the  city  ;  the  boarding-houses 
were  abundantly  supplied  with  water-works,  and 

i  Reprinted  by  permission  of  Messrs.  Harper  and  Brothers  from  their 
New  Mi  uthly  Magazine. 


334      SANITARY   DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

the  smaller  houses  had  kitchen  sinks  with  running 
water,  cellar  drains,  etc. ;  some  of  the  larger  houses 
were  heated  with  furnaces.  The  workmanship  was 
generally  good,  and  indicated  that  it  had  been  guided 
by  a  good  engineering  skill,  though  quite  without 
sanitary  knowledge. 

To  one  accustomed  to  the  inspection  of  drainage 
works,  the  gravest  faults  of  arrangement  were  every- 
where patent.  Each  house  had  a  long  drain  lead- 
ing from  its  cellar  to  a  common  sewer  of  too  large 
size,  or  to  the  surface  of  lower  ground  in  its  vicin- 
ity. Where  water-closets  were  used,  they  had  been 
erected  with  reference  to  convenience,  but  without 
reference  to  a  proper  disposal  of  their  wastes.  Most 
of  the  smaller  houses  had  common  privies  adjacent  to 
them,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  drainage  of 
the  kitchen  sink  delivered,  often  through  an  insuf- 
ficiently closed  channel,  into  the  mouth  of  the  un- 
trapped  drain  of  the  cellar.  In  some  instances  there 
were  indications  that  these  drains  had  become  ob- 
structed, and  the  discharge  of  the  kitchen  sink  had 
overrun  the  cellar  bottom.  In  other  cases  the  foul 
air  of  the  drain,  or  of  the  sewer  into  which  it  dis- 
charged, flowed  back  into  the  cellar  and  permeated 
the  house.  In  the  few  instances  where  furnaces 
were  used,  they  took  their  supply  of  cold  air  not 
from  outside  the  house,  but  from  the  front  hall,  the 
same  air  being  cooked  over  and  over  again  —  cer- 
tainly with  the  effect  of  economizing  fuel.  The 
soil  pipes  of  the  water-closets  were  unventilated, 
and  the  insalubrity  seemed  to  be  pretty  nearly  in 


THE  DRAINING   OF  A  VILLAGE. 


335 


proportion  to  the  effort  which  had  been  made  to 
overcome  it. 


I  was  entirely  unhampered   in  my  instructions, 
and  was  encouraged  to  do  all  that  the  most  perfect 


836      SAlsITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

sanitary  condition  required.  The  village  lies  on 
rolling  ground  considerably  higher  than  the  pond 
made  by  the  damming  of  the  Presumpscot  River. 
This  pond  has  a  rapid  and  constant  movement. 
The  arrangement  of  the  new  system  is  shown  in 
Figure  32.  For  drainage,  the  houses  are  grouped 
mainly  into  three  sets,  each  with  its  independent 
sewer  discharging  into  the  river.  A  is  the  office 
building,  where  the  work  was  very  simple,  and  has 
not  been  changed.  B  is  the  agent's  house,  of  which 
the  drainage  was  entirely  re-arranged,  with  a  ven- 
tilation of  its  main  drain  and  soil  pipe.  It  is  to  the 
drainage  of  the  operatives'  houses  that  I  desire  to 
call  especial  attention. 

The  heavier  lines  indicate  the  main  sewers,  of 
six-inch  vitrified  pipe,  running  from  the  flush  tanks 
(F  T)  to  the  river.  These  are  laid  with  securely 
cemented  joints,  and  with  Y  branches  to  receive 
the  house  drains,  which  are  shown  by  the  lighter 
lines.  These  house  drains  are  of  four-inch  vitrified 
pipe,  with  cemented  joints.  Each  one  of  them 
reaches  nearly  to  the  foundation  wall  of  the  house, 
and  is  connected  under  the  cellar  floor  with  the 
water-closet,  which  is  in  nearly  every  case  located 
in  the  cellar.  The  outlet  of  each  of  the  main  sew- 
ers is  arranged  as  shown  in  Figure  33,  its  extension 
through  the  bank  wall  of  the  pond  and  for  some 
distance  into  the  water  being  of  iron  pipe  supported 
and  protected  by  loose  stone-work.  At  the  top 
of  the  bank  there  is  erected  from  a  T  branch  of  the 
sewer  a  four-inch  iron  pipe  extending  above  the  sur 


THE  DRAINING   OF   A   VILLAGE. 


337 


face  of  the  ground,  and  open  at  its  mouth  for  the 
admission  of  air.  There  is  no  trap  between  this 
point  and 
the  founda- 
tion walls  of 
the  houses, 

each     house  ^__.  •  — •"== 
drain    being  ^~ 
connected 
outside     the  ~c 
walls  with  a 
three-inch  Figure  33.  —  Outlet  of  sewer,  with  ventilation  Inlet 

ventilation  pipe  reaching  above  the  roof,  shown  in 
Figure  35.  This  arrangement  secures  a  free  circu- 
lation of  air  through  the  entire  length  of  sewer  and 
house  drains. 

At  the  upper  end  of  each  main  sewer  there  is 
placed  a  Field's  Flush  Tank,  constructed  as  shown 

in  Figure 
34.  This  is  a 
brick  cham- 
ber built  in 
the  ground, 
receiving  in 
one  case  the 
drainage  of 
a  four-tene- 
ment house, 
and  in  the 
two  others 

Figure  34.  -  Field's  Flush  Tank.  the  drainage 

22 


338   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

of  the  upper  two  houses  of  the  series  —  roof  water 
and  all.  The  drainage  enters  the  tank  through  the 
pipe  C.  A  is  the  surface  of  the  water  when  the 
tank  is  full,  and  B  when  it  is  emptied.  The  ca- 
pacity of  the  tank  between  the  lines  A  and  B  is 
about  five  barrels.  In  front  of  the  entrance  there 
is  a  wire  screen  to  prevent  the  passage  of  coarse 
material.  This  is  held  in  place  by  wooden  wedges, 
and  may  easily  be  removed  for  cleansing.  The  de- 
pression below  the  line  B  is  for  the  accumulation  of 
solid  matters  which  may  not  become  decomposed. 
A  portion  of  the  tank  is  carried  up  to  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  with  a  movable  cover  for  a  man-hole. 
E  is  Field's  Automatic  Annular  Siphon,  by  which 
the  tank  is  emptied  as  soon  as  its  contents  rise  high 
enough  to  flow  over  the  top  of  its  inner  (and  longer) 
limb.  The  short  limb  is  a  dome  inclosing  the  inner 
limb,  with  a  water-way  all  around  its  bottom,  reach- 
ing to  the  line  B.  The  drainage  of  the  remaining 
houses  of  each  system  flows  directly  to  the  main 
drain,  where  it  may  deposit  more  or  less  of  its 
coarser  matters.  The  drainage  of  the  upper  houses 
flows  into  the  flush  tank,  where  it  is  held  until  the 
top  of  the  siphon  is  reached.  The  whole  amount 
(five  barrels)  is  then  discharged  with  great  rapidity 
into  the  main  sewer  (-D),  washing  it  clean  from  end 
to  end.  During  storms  the  roof  water  increases 
this  action,  but  the  flow  of  sewage  alone  is  sufficient 
to  remove  all  accumulations  from  the  sewer. 

The  arrangement  within  the  houses  is  shown  in 
Figure  35,  where  A  is  a  tumbler  tank,  delivering 


THE  DRAINING   OF  A   VILLAGE. 


339 


about  two  quarts  of  water  at  each  discharge  •,  B  is 
the  kitchen  sink  ;  0  is  a  check-valve  trap,  prevent- 
ing the  re- 
turn of  air 
from  the  wa- 
ter-closet to 
the  sink ;  and 
/),  the  water- 
closet,  in  the 
cellar.  The 
closets  are  of 
enameled 
cast  iron,  with 
iron  traps,  and 
iron  connec- 
tions with  the 
house  drains, 
the  whole  be- 
ing securely 
set  in  cement, 
which  forms 
the  entire 
floor  of  the 
closet  apart- 
ment. The 
whole  cellar 
bottom  is 

coated  in  like   Figure  35.  — House,  kitchen,  and  cellar,  with  sink, 
water-closet,   flushing  arrangement,    and   check- 
manner    With       valve. 

cement.    The 

closet  has  a  wooden  seat,  but  no  riser.     The  whole 


340      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


space  around  the  pot  is  open  to  the  air  and  light, 
and  to  the  broom  and  floor  cloth. 

Figure  36  shows  the  construction  of  the  tumbler 
tank,  which  is  a  small  galvanized  iron  tank  inclosed 
in  a  wooden  box,  of  which  the  cover  may  be  locked, 
and  within  which  is  a  small  faucet  connected  with 
the  public  water  supply,  and  under  the  control  of 
the  public  inspector  only.  Within  the  box,  and 
supported  on  knife-edge  trunnions,  is  a  galvanized 
iron  tumbler  or  tilting  basin,  with  a  capacity  of 
about  two  quarts.  Its  normal  position  is  shown  by 
the  solid  lines  (J.),  its  rear  end  resting  on  a  buffer 
of  India  rubber.  The  faucet  is  set  to  fill  it  at  fixed 
intervals,  usually  from  five  to  ten  minutes.  When 

nearly  full,  the 
weight  of  the  wa- 
ter in  the  project- 
ing lip  causes  it 
to  tilt  forward  and 
assume  the  posi- 
tion indicated  by 
the  dotted  lines 
(-6),  its  front  side 

Figure  36.— Details  of  the  tumbler  tank.  striking  an  India 
rubber  buffer,  and  its  contents  pouring  rapidly  out, 
to  flow  off  through  the  outlet  pipe,  as  shown  by 
:he  arrow.  When  empty,  its  rear  end  is  the 
heaviest,  and  it  drops  back  into  position,  ready  to 
receive  another  charge  of  water.  0  is  the  lock 
and  staple  by  which  the  cover  is  secured.  Figure 
37  shows  a  cross  section  of  the  patent  check-valye. 


THE   DRAINING   OF  A  VILLAGE. 


341 


by  which  the  air  of  the  cellar  or  closet  is  prevented 
from  returning  to  the  kitchen. 

The  frequency  of  the  flushing  discharge  is  a  per- 
fect security  against 
frost ;  the  kitchen  waste- 
pipe  is  kept  clean,  and 
the  trapping  water  of 
the  closet  is  renewed 
every  five  or  ten  min- 
utes, day  and  night,  all 
faeces  and  kitchen  waste 
being  carried  into  the  — 
drain  and  quite  on  the 
river  before  its  decom- 
position Can  even  begin.  Figure^-  Cross  section  of  check- 
This  frequent  renewal  valve. 

of  the  water  in  the  closet  trap  would  be  a  consider- 
able protection  against  foul  air  in  the  drain  even 
were  this  not  ventilated.  In  effect  there  is  perfect 
ventilation  only  a  few  feet  distant  from  the  closet. 
The  whole  arrangement  is  entirely  pure  and  satis- 
factory, and  it  secures  the  removal  of  all  offensive 
waste  matters  in  a  most  complete  and  unobjection- 
able manner.  The  same  arrangements  in  principle 
are  applied  to  the  two  large  boarding-houses,  one 
for  men  and  one  for  women,  and  with  equally  good 
results. 

Other  minor  improvements  have  been  made,  such 
as  the  under-draining  of  a  low  tract,  as  shown  by 
dotted  lines  near  the  southeast  corner  of  the  map  ; 
the  removal  of  stables,  of  all  pig-pens,  and  of  all 


342   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

privies.  Where  cellars  are  subject  to  soil  moist- 
ure they  have  been  drained  below  the  concrete,  and 
with  ample  protection  against  the  return  of  drain 
air  through  the  old  drains  leading  to  the  old  sewer, 
or  to  the  hill-sides.  These  drains  have  absolutely 
no  connection  with  the  foul-water  system,  which 
delivers  below  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the  river, 
which  is  frequently  and  thoroughly  flushed,  and 
which  is  abundantly  ventilated  close  up  to  the  wall 
of  every  house. 

Not  as  a  matter  of  drainage,  but  as  being  very 
necessary  to  health,  the  cold  air  supply  to  furnaces, 
where  these  exist,  has  been  cut  off  from  the  front 
hall  registers  and  brought  into  communication  with 
the  outer  air. 

The  houses  shown  on  the  map  which  are  not  con- 
nected with  the  sewers  are  mainly  either  not  the 
property  of  Messrs.  S.  D.  Warren  and  Company,  or 
are  to  be  torn  down  or  removed. 

The  method  of  sewerage  above  indicated,  and,  so 
far  as  working-people  are  concerned,  the  method  of 
house  drainage,  are  almost  universally  applicable  to 
country  villages  generally,  and  even  to  very  large 
villages.  Indeed,  with  a  very  moderate  increase  of 
size  in  the  main  sewers,  where  a  hundred  or  more 
houses  are  to  be  drained,  it  is  the  best  system  avail- 
ble  for  many  villages  which  have  city  charters.  It 
would  often  be  necessary,  but  by  no  means  always, 
to  secure  some  better  means  of  sewage  disposal  than 
its  discharge  into  a  river  or  brook.  One  very  im- 
portant fact  in  this  connection  is  apt  to  be  over 


THE   DRAINING   OF  A  VILLAGE.  343 

looked,  which  is,  that  while  the  outflow  of  large 
and  sluggish  sewers  is  poisonous  to  fish,  and  in  every 
way  unfitted  for  admission  to  rivers,  fresh  fsecal 
matter  and  fresh  kitchen  waste  are  food  for  fishes, 
which  are  its  natural  and  proper  scavengers.  The 
whole  household  drainage  of  a  town  should  be  car- 
ried immediately  into  a  river  by  cleanly  flushed 
lowers. 


CHAPTER  XH. 

RECENT  MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITABY  DKAINAGK. 

IT  is  only  about  four  years  since  the  first  edition 
of  this  book  was  published.  So  far  as  possible,  I 
therein  stated  fairly  the  condition  of  the  art  at  that 
time.  Viewed  in  the  light  of  present  knowledge  on 
the  subject,  parts  of  that  first  edition  are  already, 
in  many  respects,  quite  out  of  date.  Knowledge  has 
increased,  experience  has  multiplied,  and  invention 
has  been  most  fertile.  The  illustrations  there  given 
of  the  proper  arrangement  of  house  drainage  (Fig- 
ure 12,  page  188)  represented  a  soil  pipe  and  drain 
running  in  an  unbroken  course  from  the  sewer  in 
the  street,  under  the  basement  floor,  and  up  through 
the  roof  of  the  house.  Connected  with  it  were  sev- 
eral water-closets,  a  sink,  and  the  overflow-pipes  of 
the-  tank  in  the  attic  and  of  the  service  cisterns  of 
the  closets.  In  all  cases  the  different  vessels  were 
separated  from  the  soil  pipe  only  by  water-sealed 
traps,  and  only  the  same  protection  was  afforded  in 
the  case  of  the  main  tank.  The  system  thus  repre- 
sented is  defective  in  several  particulars. 

(a.)  The  water  of  the  tank  is  liable  to  dangerous 
contamination  through  the  overflow-pipe  which  leads 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITARY   DRAINAGE.    345 

into  the  soil  pipe,  with  only  the  insufficient  protec- 
tion of  a  water-seal,  —  especially  insufficient  as  it 
has  no  certain  means  of  renewal,  and  may  by  evap- 
oration give  direct  access  to  the  air  of  the  soil 
pipe. 

(5.)  The  overflow-pipes  of  the  service  cisterns 
may  in  like  manner  become  channels  for  the  intro- 
duction of  drain  air  to  the  apartments. 

(c.)  The  unprotected  traps  of  the  sink  and  the 
water-closets  are  inadequate  for  the  work  they  are 
intended  to  perform,  and  all  of  them  are  suscepti- 
ble, under  certain  conditions,  of  becoming  empty 
by  evaporation  or  by  siphoning. 

(c?.)  Although  the  soil  pipe  is  continued  through 
the  roof,  full-bore,  and  is  open  at  the  top,  it  has  no 
provision  for  the  admission  of  fresh  air  at  its  foot, 
which,  is  now  regarded  as  a  matter  of  imperative 
necessity. 

(e.)  The  carrying  of  a  foul-water  drain  under  the 
basement  floor  is  to  be  avoided  whei-ever  possible. 

These  defects  are  sufficient,  in  the  opinion  of  those 
instructed  in  such  matters,  to  condemn  this  whole 
arrangement,  which  only  four  years  ago  was  re- 
garded as  the  best  yet  devised.1 

All  this  indicates  that  the  art  under  consideration 
is  undergoing  rapid  development,  and  that  it  is  by 
no  means  to  be  assumed  that  we  have  yet  arrived 
at  ultimate  perfection  in  the  matter. 

Were  I  called  upon  to-day  to  specify  the  essen- 

i  This  illustration  was  taken  from  t.-.e  lates*  accepted  English  authority 
•n  such  subjects. 


346      SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

tial  features  of  perfect  house  drainage,  I  should  in- 
clude the  following  items  :  — 

The  establishment  of  a  complete  circulation  in 
the  main  line  of  soil  pipe  and  drain,  allowing  a  free 
movement  of  atmospheric  air  through  the  whole 
system  from  end  to  end,  together  with  as  free  a  cir- 
culation through  minor  pipes  as  could  conveniently 
be  secured. 

The  absolute  separation  of  the  overflow  of  every 
tank  or  cistern  delivering  water  for  the  general 
supply  of  the  house  from  any  soil  pipe  or  drain  con- 
taining a  foul  atmosphere. 

The  supplementing  of  every  water-trap  with  a 
suitable  mechanical  valve,  to  prevent  the  water  of 
the  trap  from  coming  in  contact  with  the  air  of  the 
drain. 

The  reduction  of  the  size  of  all  waste-pipes,  and 
especially  of  all  traps,  to  the  smallest  diameter  ade- 
quate to  their  work. 

The  abolition  of  all  brick  or  earthenware  drains 
within  the  walls  of  the  house,  using  in  their  stead 
the  best  quality  of  iron  pipe,  with  securely  caulked 
lead  joints. 

The  exposure  of  pipes  "  in  sight  "  wherever  this 
can  be  done.  The  substitution,  so  far  as  practi- 
cable, of  wrought-iron  pipes  for  lead  pipes,  in  the 
case  of  all  minor  wastes. 

The  coating  of  all  iron  pipes,  both  cast  and 
wrought,  inside  and  out,  with  "  American "  en« 
amel,  a  glossy  black  coating  which  withstands  in 
the  most  complete  manner  the  chemical  action  and 


REOKNT   MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITARY    DRAINAGE.     347 

changes  of  temperature  to  which  it  is  subjected  in 
such  use. 

The  iron  pipes  should  be  extended  so  far  beyond 
the  foundation  of  the  house  as  to  obviate  the  open- 
ing of  joints  by  settlement,  so  common  where 
earthenware  drains  are  subjected  to  a  slight  move- 
ment of  the  foundation,  or  of  the  new  fitting  about 
it. 

The  object  to  be  sought  is  the  provision  of  a  per- 
manent drainage  channel  for  the  removal  of  all 
wastes,  offering  little  asperity  for  the  adhesion  of 
foul  matter,  swept  from  end  to  end  by  fresh  air,  ab- 
solutely separated  by  mechanical  obstructions  from 
the  interior  atmosphere  of  the  house,  and  literally 
a  section  of  out-of-doors  brought  for  convenience 
within  the  walls  of  the  house,  open  to  receive  the 
contents  of  the  various  waste-pipes  leading  to  it,  but 
securely  closed  against  the  return  of  its  air.  I  be- 
lieve that  the  next  step  in  advance  will  be  the  es- 
tablishment of  means  by  which  the  whole  length  of 
this  drainage  channel  may  be  thoroughly  flushed 
with  clean  water  at  least  once  in  twenty-four 
hours. 

As  a  prominent  detail  of  house-drainage  work, 
the  long-accepted  water-closet  is  being  made  the  ob- 
ject of  important  modifications.  The  stereotyped 
article,  the  "  pan  "  closet,  has  little  to  recommend 
it  beyond  the  fact  of  its  general  adoption.  It  is 
faulty  in  principle,  in  arrangement,  and  in  construc- 
tion. While  it  is  cleanly  to  look  at,  and  lends  it- 
self readily  to  ornamental  joinery,  it  has  defects 


848   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

which  should  drive  it  out  of  existence.  Deep  down 
in  its  dark  and  hidden  recesses,  where  only  the  ken 
of  the  plumber  ever  reaches,  a  large  and  sluggish  trap 
—  they  call  it  a  "  cess-pool  "  in  Scotland  —  is  gen- 
erally holding  the  filthiest  filth  in  a  state  of  offen- 
sive putrefaction.  The  iron  chamber  above  this  is 
lined  with  the  foulest  smear  and  slime,  constantly 
producing  foetid  and  dangerous  gases.  The  earthen- 
ware bowl  which  surmounts  this  is  set  in  putty, 
which  yields  to  corrosion  and  to  the  jar  of  frequent 
use,  until  it  leaks  foul  air,  often  in  perceptible  quan- 
tity. The  panful  of  sealing  water  soon  becomes 
saturated  with  foul  gases,  which  exhale  thence  into 
the  house.  The  whole  apparatus  is  incoffined  in 
tight-fitting  carpentry,  which  shuts  in  the  leakings 
and  the  spatterings  and  their  vapors  from,  the  free 
access  of  air,  boxing  up  in  the  interior  of  the  house, 
and  generally  in  free  communication  with  the  spaces 
between  the  walls  and  under  the  floors,  an  atmos- 
phere heavy  with  the  products  of  organic  decompo- 
sition, and  faintly  suggestive  to  (the  unwonted  nos- 
tril) of  the  mus  decumanus  defutictus. 

Some  of  these  defects  were  recognized  and  pointed 
out  in  my  earlier  papers.  I  then  believed  that  the 
difficulties  of  the  case  had  been  solved  in  great  meas- 
are  by  the  Jennings  closet.  It  now  seems  that 
this  closet  and  the  whole  class  to  which  it  belongs 
are  seriously  defective ;  and,  in  the  absence  of  any- 
thing better,  I  am  disposed  to  go  back  to  the  simple 
*'  hopper  "  closet  (Figure  38),  such  as  is  used  in 
the  cheapest  work,  and  to  depend  on  frequent  and 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS  IN   SANITARY  DRAINAGE.     349 

copious  flushing  to  keep  it  clean.  This  closet  haa 
the  great  advantage  that  its  only  trap 
is  in  sight  at  the  bottom  of  its  pot. 
There  is  no  inner  "chamber  of  hor- 
rors "  concealed  by  a  cleanly  exterior. 
I  have  recently  used  a  number  of  these 
closets  supplied  with  various  sorts  of 
apparatus  for  periodical  flushing,  and 
I  find  that  wherever  a  half-gallon  flush 
can  be  given  every  ten  or  fifteen  min- 
utes they  are  kept  perfectly  clean.  I  have  no  doubt 
that  flushing  every  half  hour  would  keep  them  free 
from  all  sanitary  objection.  This  would  require  a 
supply  of  about  twenty-five  gallons  per  diem. 

Recent  invention  has  been  turned  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  provision  of  mechanical  appliances  for 
separating  the  trapping  water  from  the  air  of  the 
soil  pipe  or  drain.  There  are  several  devices  which 
accomplish  this  purpose,  —  one  of  them  (Figure  37) 
my  own,  and  more  than  one  of  them  constituting  a 
very  great  improvement  upon,  and  indeed  an  absolute 
step  in  advance  of,  anything  in  use  five  years  ago. 

Another  most  important  matter  of  recent  develop- 
ment is  the  through  and  through  ventilation  of  soil 
pipes.  Formerly  the  soil  pipes  invariably  stopped  at 
the  highest  closet  of  the  house.  When  the  danger 
of  pressure  came  to  be  understood,  it  was  considered 
imperative  in  all  work  of  the  best  class  to  carry  a 
vent-pipe  out  through  the  top  of  the  house.  As  this 
pipe,  from  the  smallness  of  its  size  and  from  the  ir- 
regularities of  its  course,  had  but  limited  capacity  of 


350   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

Discharge,  the  necessity  was  quite  generally  recog- 
nized for  carrying  up  the  soil  pipe  itself,  full-bore, 
through  and  above  the  roof.  This  was  the  point 
reached  at  the  time  of  my  earlier  writing.  It  soon 
became  evident  that  even  this  extension  of  the  large 
pipe  afforded  no  real  ventilation.  A  deep  mine  shaft 
cannot  be  ventilated  by  simply  uncovering  its  top. 
No  complete  frequent  change  of  air  can  be  effected 
in  a  soil  pipe  by  merely  opening  its  upper  end.  Air 
must  be  introduced  at  the  bottom  to  take  the  place 
of  that  which  is  discharged  at  the  top.  It  is  now 
considered  imperative  in  all  good  work  to  open  the 
soil  pipe  at  both  ends,  or  at  least  to  furnish  the 
lower  part  of  the  pipe  with  a  sufficient  fresh-air 
inlet  to  effect  a  thorough  ventilation  of  the  whole 
channel. 

We  have  heard  so  much  of  "  sewer  gas  "  that 
we  were  in  danger  of  ascribing  the  production  of 
this  foul  air  only  to  the  sewer  and  cess-pool.  In- 
deed, the  majority  of  sanitarians  to  this  day  seem 
to  believe  that  if  they  can  effect  a  thorough  dis- 
connection between  the  sewer  or  drain  and  the 
waste-pipes  of  the  house  they  have  gained  a  suffi- 
cient protection  against  sewer  gas.  The  fact  is 
that  that  combination  of  the  gaseous  products  of 
organic  decomposition  which  is  known  by  the  gen- 
eric name  of  sewer  gas  is  very  largely  produced  by 
the  contents  of  the  house-pipes  themselves.  Not 
only  in  the  traps,  where  the  coarser  matters  ac- 
cumulate, but  all  along  the  walls  of  the  smeared 
oipes,  where  filth  has  attached  itself  in  its  passage, 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS  IN   SANITARY   DRAINAGE.   351 

there  is  a  constant  decomposition  going  on  which  ia 
producing  its  constant  results.  The  character  of 
this  decomposition  and  the  character  of  the  pro- 
duced gases  are  greatly  influenced  by  the  degree  to 
which  access  is  given  to  atmospheric  air.  The  more 
complete  the  ventilation,  the  greater  the  dilution 
of  the  gases  formed  and  the  more  complete  their  re- 
moval, and  also  the  more  innocuous  their  character. 
Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  the  con- 
tained air  of-  a  soil  pipe  must  be  offensive,  and  ia 
likely  to  become  dangerous  ;  so  that,  however 
thorough  the  ventilation,  we  must  still  adopt  every 
safeguard  against  its  admission  into  the  house.  The 
facility  with  which  foul  gases  penetrate  water  and 
escape  from  it  makes  the  water-seal  trap,  which  is 
now  our  almost  universal  reliance,  an  extremely  in- 
efficient protection.  There  can  be  no  real  safety 
short  of  the  adoption  of  some  appliance  which  shall 
keep  every  outlet  securely  closed  against  the  pos- 
sible return  of  drain  air. 

Mr.  Elliot  C.  Clarke,  the  principal  assistant  en- 
gineer in  charge  of  the  Improved  Sewerage  Work 
of  Boston,  in  a  paper  entitled  "  Common  Defects  in 
House  Drains,"  contributed  to  the  Tenth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health, 
says  on  the  subject  of  sewer  gas  :  "  The  writer  has 
no  wish  to  be  an  alarmist.  The  risk  from  sewer  gas 
is  probably  not  so  great  as  many  suppose;  it  is  a 
slight  risk,  but  a  slight  risk  of  a  terrible  danger.  If 
a  man  thinks  there  is  no  need  of  insuring  his  house 
because  his  father  lived  in  it  for  fifty  years  without 


352   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

a  conflagration,  he  has  a  right  to  his  opinion."  Pro- 
fessor Fleeming  Jenkin,  in  his  "  Healthy  Houses," 
says,  "  Simple  sewer  gas  is  little  worse  than  a  bad 
smell.  Tainted  sewer  gas  may  be  so  poisonous  that 
a  very  little  introduced  into  a  bedroom  —  so  little 
as  to  be  quite  imperceptible  to  the  nose  —  shall  cer- 
tainly give  typhoid  fever  to  a  person  sleeping  there. 
The  germ  is  a  spark,  the  effects  of  which  may  be 
unlimited.  We  do  not  content  ourselves  with  ex- 
cluding the  great  majority  of  sparks  from  a  powder 
magazine ;  we  do  our  best  that  not  one  may  enter." 
While  the  water  seal  is  very  defective  in  itself,  it 
is  a  very  important  adjunct  to  any  mechanical  means 
of  separation  that  may  be  adopted,  and  all  necessary 
precautions  should  be  taken  to  prevent  its  removal 
by  "  siphoning,"  —  the  sucking  out  of  the  water  by 
the  partial  vacuum  caused  by  the  flow  of  water  in 
the  main  pipe,  to  which  its  outlet  leads.  To  pre- 
vent this  siphoning  action  often  taxes  the  ingenuity 
of  the  engineer  more  than  any  part  of  house-drain- 
ing work;  and  until  special  devices  are  made  to 
meet  the  exigency  this  must  remain  the  most  diffi- 
cult and  intricate  part  of  the  house  drainer's  task. 

Any  one  whose  attention  is  given  to  sanitary  work 
must  be  more  and  more  struck  with  that  peculiar- 
ity of  human  nature  which  assures  us  of  the  excep- 
tional excellence  of  our  own  belongings.  I  have 
rarely  been  called  to  examine  the  drainage  of  a 
house  without  being  told  that  I  was  sent  for  merely 
as  a  matter  of  extra  precaution.  I  have  never  com. 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS  IN   SANITARY  DRAINAGE.   353 

pleted  any  examination  without  discovering  serious 
sanitary  defects,  —  not  merely  such  errors  of  ar- 
rangement as  were  universal  until  a  short  time  ago> 
but  actual,  palpable  bad  condition,  which  the  owner 
and  his  plumber  at  once  acknowledged  as  of  a  grave 
character.  Leaks  in  drains  under  the  cellar  floor, 
or  in  or  near  the  foundation;  lead  waste-pipes  eaten 
through  by  rats,  and  spilling  their  flow  under  the 
house ;  lead  soil  pipes  perforated  by  corrosion  ;  im- 
perfect joints  leaking  drain  air  within  the  parti- 
tions ;  the  accumulation  of  dirty  sloppings  under  the 
bench  of  the  water-closet ;  and  even  untrapped  con- 
nection between  some  room  and  the  soil  pipe,  or  the 
direct  pollution  of  the  air  over  the  tank  through  its 
overflow-pipe,  —  these  are  most  common  faults,  and 
Borne  one  of  them  I  have  found  to  exist  wherever  I 
have  looked  for  them  in  a  "  first-class  "  house,  where 
it  was  naturally  supposed  that  the  most  perfect 
conditions  prevailed. 

In  no  department  of  sanitary  work  has  progress 
been  more  marked  than  in  the  improvement  fore- 
shadowed on  page  196  et  infra,  concerning  the  dis- 
posal of  the  liquid  wastes  of  country  houses  by  the 
process  of  sub-surface  irrigation.  Like  all  radical 
improvements,  it  has  had  its  share  of  prejudice  to 
overcome,  and  it  by  no  means  found  the  profes- 
sional public  ready  to  accept  it  as  the  demonstrated 
success  which  English  experience  had  shown  it  to 
be.  It  is  now  quite  safe  to  say  that,  among  all 
engineers  and  architects  who  have  given  attention 
to  the  matter,  it  is  acknowledged  to  afford  the  beat 

93 


354      SANITAKY   DRAINAGE  OF  HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 

solution  yet  attained  of  this  most  difficult  problem. 
I  know  very  many  cases  of  its  adoption,  often  with- 
out professional  guidance,  and  carried  out  in  a  rule- 
of-thumb  sort  of  way,  and  I  have  heard  of  none 
that  is  not  satisfactory.  It  does  away  with  that 
king  of  nuisances,  the  cess-pool,  and  disposes  of  all 
manner  of  liquid  waste  insensibly,  completely,  anc1 
safely.  The  credit  for  this  improvement  is  due  pri 
marily  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Moule,  the  inventor  of 
the  earth-closet,  and  hardly  less  to  Mr.  Rogers  Field, 
C.  E.,  who  relieved  it  of  its  chief  embarrassment  by 
adapting  to  it  his  automatic  flush  tank.  This  sys- 
tem has  recently  received  the  unqualified  indorse- 
ment of  that  highest  American  sanitary  authority, 
the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Health,  which  in  a 
circular  issued  in  April,  1879,  says :  "  Chamber  slops, 
and  slop  water  generally,  should  never  be  thrown 
on  the  ground  near  houses.  They  may  be  ....  used 
by  distribution  under  the  surface  of  the  soil  in  the 
manner  described  on  page  334  of  the  Seventh  An- 
nual Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  now 
introduced  in  the  town  of  Lenox,  Massachusetts.  .  .  . 
If  water-closets  are  used,  and  there  are  no  sewers, 
the  best  disposal  of  the  sewage  is  by  the  flush  tank 
and  irrigation  under  the  surface  of  the  soil,  as  de- 
scribed on  page  135  of  the  Eighth  Annual  Report 
of  the  State  Board  of  Health." 

This  system  has  been  for  two  years  in  full  oper- 
ation for  the  entire  sewage  of  the  village  of  Lenox, 
where  it  has  proved  itself  an  absolute  and  unques- 
tionable success.  The  question  which  seems  to  arise 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITARY   DRAINAGE.   356 

in  every  Northern  mind  when  this  method  is  sug- 
gested relates  to  the  possible  effect  of  severe  frosts. 
It  seems  now  to  be  clearly  demonstrated  that  this 
consideration  may  be  left  entirely  out  of  the  ac- 
count, no  instance  having  been  cited  of  the  least  ob- 
struction from  this  source.  This  point  will  be  more 
Fully  treated  farther  on. 

The  progress  made  in  the  matter  of  town  drainage 
has  not  been  less  than  that  in  the  twin  department 
of  house  drainage  ;  but  the  advance  has  been  thus 
far —  at  least  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned  — 
more  a  matter  of  theory  than  of  practical  applica- 
tion, and  it  relates  more  to  villages  and  to  what  may 
be  called  village-cities  than  to  larger  places,  like 
New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia. 

Sewerage  was  long  confined  to  large  towns,  and  it 
reached  its  development  under  the  direction  of  en- 
gineers trained  to  foresee  all  possible  contingencies, 
and  to  pitch  their  work  on  a  scale  adequate  to  cope 
with  them.  Having  usually  ample  means  at  their 
command,  and  with  the  inclination  to  work  after 
great  models,  their  works  have  generally  been  costly 
and  vastly  comprehensive.  So  far  as  the  drainage 
of  the  great  cities  is  concerned,  there  is  much  to  be 
said,  too,  on  the  other  side,  and  it  has  been  ably 
said.  My  present  purpose  relates  chiefly  to  the 
tewerage  of  villages  and  country  towns  having  a 
considerable  proportion  of  uncovered  and  unpaved 
area.  There  are  hundreds  of  towns  in  this  country 
Badly  in  need  of  draining,  which  cannot  afford  the 
gigantic  and  costly  work  of  introducing  such  a  ays- 


856      SANITARY   DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES   AND   TOWNS. 

tem  of  sewers  as  it  is  uusal  to  find  in  a  great  city 
Quite  generally,  when  the  question  of  their  drainage 
arises,  a  city  sewerage  engineer  is  consulted,  and  a 
plan  is  prepared  which  remains  unexecuted  because 
of  its  excessive  cost.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  this 
cost  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  proposed  system  con- 
templates the  drainage  of  such  sub-cellars  as  are 
rarely  found  in  country  towns,  involving  a  depth 
that  would  probably  never  be  needed,  and  the  re- 
moval of  the  storm  water,  which,  after  the  area  shall 
have  become  covered  and  paved,  might  flow  off  by 
the  public  sewers.  It  would  be  better,  in  the  case 
of  all  rural  towns,  to  disregard  the  question  of  storm 
water  entirely.  This  may  be  more  safely  and  much 
more  cheaply  removed  over  the  surface.  The  only 
reason  for  admitting  it  to  the  sewers  would  be  to 
prevent  injury  to  property.  Under  the  circum- 
stances we  are  considering,  the  danger  of  this  is  not 
sufficient  to  justify  the  expense  ;  nor  is  it  sufficient, 
were  there  no  question  of  expense,  to  justify  the 
sanitary  and  economical  disadvantages  of  providing 
for  it  by  a  system  of  large  sewers.  It  is  better  to 
keep  above  ground,  and  to  discharge  by  the  natural 
means  of  outflow,  all  water  which  ma}7  be  so  dis- 
posed of  without  offense  or  danger  to  health,  —  that 
is,  all  or  nearly  all  rainfall.  The  extent  to  which 
the  first  flow  over  a  paved  road-way  may  properly 
be  admitted  to  the  sewers  is  a  question  to  be  decided 
according  to  the  circumstances  of  each  case.  It  is 
generally  wiser  to  keep  such  road-ways  clean  cy 
sweeping  than  to  use  the  rain-fal1  v  *  scavenger. 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITARY   DRAINAGE.   857 

What  towns  of  the  class  under  consideration  need 
—  and  they  need  it  very  imperatively  — is  a  per- 
fect means  for  the  removal  of  the  foul  wastes  of 
households,  factories,  etc.,  and  for  the  draining  of 
the  sub-soil,  if  this  is  springy  or  wet.  They  should 
only  be  called  upon  to  spend  the  money  necessary 
to  secure  these  ends.  If  they  can  learn  to  limit 
their  demands  to  this  absolute  requirement,  their 
sanitary  improvement  need  no  longer  be  the  bug- 
bear that  it  now  is. 

The  advantages  of  small-pipe  sewers  have  been 
sufficiently  stated,  except,  perhaps,  with  reference 
to  the  single  matter  of  ventilation.  It  is  much 
easier  and  more  simple  to  secure  the  needed  change 
of  the  atmosphere  of  a  small  chamber  than  of  a 
large  one,  and  the  usual  means,  which  are  but  par- 
tially effective  in  the  case  of  a  large  brick  sewer, 
are  ample  for  the  complete  ventilation  of  a  small 
pipe.  Hitherto  the  objection  has  held,  in  the  case 
of  pipe  sewers  of  less  than  ten  inches  in  diameter, 
•.hat  when  they  become  obstructed  it  is  a  difficult 
and  costly  matter  to  clear  them.  But  for  this  objec- 
tion, there  was  no  reason  why  six-inch  sewers  might 
not  be  used  for  all  villages  or  parts  of  towns  having 
a  population  of  not  more  than  one  thousand ;  for  a 
six-inch  pipe  laid  even  with  a  very  slight  inclina- 
tion has  ample  capacity  for  the  discharge  of  all  the 
household  waste  of  such  a  population. 

We  have  now  reached  the  point  where  there  is 
no  reason  whatever  to  apprehend  the  obstruction 
of  such  a  sewer  by  anything  that  can  get  into  it 


358      SANITARY  DRAINAGE   OF   HOUSES  AND   TOWNS. 


through  proper  and  properly  arranged  branch  drains. 
Rogers  Field's  Flush  Tank,  as  arranged  for  the  pe- 
riodic flushing  of  such  sewers,  may  be  confidently 
relied  on  to  keep  them  swept  clean  of  everything 
that  may  enter  them.     The  accompanying  diagram 
(Figure  39)  shows  the  construction  of  the  annular 
siphon,  which  is  the  essential  feat- 
ure of  this  tank.     A  siphon  of  this 
form,  four  inches  in  diameter,  cornea 
into  action  with  certainty  under  a 
stream  of  one  tenth  of  a  gallon  per 
minute ;   so  that  a  tank  having  a 
capacity  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
gallons,  placed  at  the  head  of  each 
branch  sewer  and  fed  by  a  stream 
which  will  fill  it  once  in  twenty-four 
hours,  will  give  it  a  thorough  daily 
flushing,  and  keep  it  clear  of  all  ob- 
Figure  39.  — Rogers  structions.     No  matter  how  limited 
Field's  Annular  Si-  the  public  water  supply  may  be,  this 
p  on'  small  amount  can  always  be  spared 

for  the  work.  Where  there  is  no  public  supply 
and  no  available 
extrinsic  source 
of  flushing  water, 
the  sewage  itself 
from  a  few  of  the 
upper  h  ouses 

along  each   lateral    Figure  40. —  Rogers  Field's  Flush  Tank  lot 

sewer,     together 

with  their  roof  water,  may  be  collected  in  the  tant 

and  used  for  the  flush. 


BECENT  MODIFICATIONS  IN  SANITARY  DRAINAGE.   359 

This  simple  device  has  proved  itself,  both  here 
and  in  England,  to  be  entirely  reliable  and  effective. 
It  may  safely  be  assumed  that  it  has  secured  a  re- 
duction of  the  cost  of  the  drainage  of  small  towns 
to  one  half  of  what  was  formerly  necessary. 

It  has  been  held  hitherto  to  be  one  of  the  advan- 
tages of  sewerage  that  the  imperfect  joints  or  im- 
perfect material  of  the  sewers  afford  an  outlet  for 
superabundant  soil  water,  and  secure  a  valuable 
sub-soil  drainage.  It  is  coming  to  be  understood 
that  the  same  channels  which  admit  soil  water  to 
the  drain  will  admit  drain  water  to  the  soil,  robbing 
the  sewers  of  the  vehicle  needed  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  their  more  solid  contents,  and  causing  a 
dangerous  pollution  of  the  ground,  of  cellars,  and 
of  drinking-water  wells.  The  foul-water  sewers 
should  be  as  absolutely  tight  as  the  best  material 
and  the  best  workmanship  can  make  them,  and  the 
drainage  of  the  ground  should  be  effected  by  the 
use  of  agricultural  drain-tiles,  constituting  an  en- 
tirely separate  system,  which,  while  they  may  for 
economy's  sake  generally  occupy  the  same  trenches 
with  the  sewers,  should  be  carefully  arranged  to 
prevent  sewage  matters  from  entering  them. 

The  question  of  sewage  disposal  is  the  great  un- 
answered question  of  the  day.  We  are  familiar 
-vith  the  objections  to  the  methods  usual  here. 
European  countries,  which  have  been  forced  by  the 
ieusity  of  their  population  to  give  especial  attention 
to  this  subject,  have  as  yet  hardly  got  beyond  the 
point  of  proving  that  there  is  no  royal  road  to  sue- 


360   SANITARY  DRAINAGE  IN  HOUSES  AND  TOWNS. 

cess,  and  that  whatever  theory  may  say  on  the 
subject,  sewage  not  only  has  no  value  to  the  com- 
munity producing  it,  but  it  cannot  be  got  rid  of 
except  at  considerable  cost. 

The  only  method  thus  far  developed  which  is 
entitled  to  consideration  here,  aside  from  discharge 
into  the  sea  or  into  a  running  stream,  is  purification 
by  application  to  the  soil,  with  or  without  the  agri- 
cultural consideration.  Whether  by  surface  irriga- 
tion, by  the  use  of  sub-surface  absorption  drains,  or 
by  intermittent  downward  filtration,  this  method  of 
its  disposition,  properly  applied,  is  absolutely  com- 
plete and  satisfactory.  The  opinion  has  quite  natu- 
rally prevailed  that  the  severity  of  our  winter 
climate  debarred  us  from  availing  ourselves  of  it. 
The  experience  of  the  severe  winter  of  1878  -9  has 
fully  justified  the  opinion  of  those  who  have  main- 
tained that  this  objection  is  not  a  real  one.  In 
England  the  sewage-irrigation  farms  have  taken 
charge  of  the  effluent  without  interruption  through- 
out a  season  of  almost  unexampled  severity.  At 
Berlin  a  like  immunity  has  continued  throughout 
the  winter ;  and  even  at  Dantzic,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Vistula,  in  a  climate  nearly  as  severe  as  that 
of  St.  Petersburg,  and  where  provision  was  made 
for  a  direct  discharge  into  the  river  during  the  win- 
ter season,  the  disposal  by  irrigation  is  said,  to  the 
surprise  of  all,  to  continue  uninterrupted  in  the 
coldest  weather. 

At  the  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital  on  Staten 
Island,  winter  overtook  us  before  our  absorption 


RECENT   MODIFICATIONS   IN   SANITARY   DRAINAGE.   361 

drains  could  be  laid.  The  flush  tank,  which  holds 
one  day's  sewage,  was  made  to  discharge  over  a  low 
spot  near  the  absorption  ground.  Even  in  the  cold- 
est weather  the  entire  outflow  settled  away  into  the 
earth  before  the  next  flood  was  delivered.  Evidently 
the  warmth  of  the  sewage  is  in  all  cases  sufficient 
for  it  to  thaw  its  way  into  the  ground.  This  is, 
without  doubt,  the  explanation  of  the  continued 
working  of  the  shaLow  drains  under  my  own  lawn 
during  nine  consecutive  winters,  although  at  least 
once  the  ground  was  frozen  to  a  depth  of  two  and  a 
half  feet  below  them. 


INDEX. 


ish-closets,  214,  271,  276,  280. 
Ashes  for  earth-closet*,  250. 

Batavia  (N.  Y.).  removal  of  malarious 

condition,  109. 
Bath-tubs,  103. 
Blunt's  overflow  for  Jennings's  closet, 

Boards  of  Health  of  England.  Gen- 
eral conclusions  as  to  sanitary  drain- 
age, 118. 

Boards  of  Health  should  decide  what 
may  be  admitted  to  the  sewer,  117. 

Boards  of  Health  should  regulate  the 
sites  of  houses,  12,  57. 

Boston,  its  drainage,  64. 

Brick  sewers,  objections  to,  146. 

Brierly,  typhoid  at,  40. 


I  Dampness,  48,  73. 
|  Dams  for  flushing  sewers,  167. 
!  Death-rate  in  London  at  different  p* 
.      riods,  21. 

|  Death-rates  in  England,  18. 
Decomposing  matter    in    cellars,    88 

Denton  and  Field's  sewage  tank,  319. 
j  Deodorizing,  91. 

Deposits  in  sewers,  144. 
i  Derby,   Dr.,   without  filth   typhoid  It 
'      not  bora,  66. 

i  Details  of  house  drainage,  186. 
1  Diarrhoea,  96. 

I  Diphtheria,  63,  54,  65,  96,  101. 
I  Diphtheria,  and  sewer  gas,  44. 
I  Discharge  of  sewage  at  different  house* 


Broad  Street  pump,  68. 

Diseases  from  sewer  gas,  96. 

Brooklyn,  amount  of  sewage,  129. 

Disease,  stamping  out  sources  of,  88. 
Disinfectants,  not  reliable,  67. 

Capacity  of  sewers,  134,  136,  138. 

Disinfectants,  objectionable,  166 

Causation  of  disease  (Dr.  Simon),  36. 

Disinfection,  90,  91. 

Cellar  drainage,  74. 

Disposal  of  house  slops,  196,  329 

Cellars,  73,  83,  84. 

Disposal  of  sewage,  314. 

Cellars,  flooding  of,  128. 

Drainage,  as  affecting  fever  and  ague 

Cement  pipes  for  sewers,  146. 

46,  48,  60. 

Cerebro-spinal  meningitis,  63,  96,  101. 
Cess-pool,  79,  80,  89,  107. 

Drainage  entails  responsibility,  79. 
Drainage,  from  kitchen  sinks,  76. 

Charcoal  ventilators,  159. 

Drainage  of  houses,  186. 

Chimneys  and  Hues  for  sewer  ventila- 

Drainage of  towns,  105. 

tion,  156. 

Drains  and  sewers,  sizes  of,  136. 

Chimneys,  house-drain  ventilators  in, 

Drains,  dangers  of,  91. 

93. 

Drains,  private,  106,  177,  206,  20S. 

Choking  of  sewers,  133. 

Drains,  ventilation  of,  91,  95. 

Cholera,  bad  drainage,  63. 

Drinking-water,  80,  81,  82,  83. 

Cholera,  mortality  from,  20. 

Drinking-water,  infected,  23,  27,   W 

Cleansing  sewers,  165. 

67,68. 

Closets,  water,  78,  79,  190.  193. 
Constructiou  of  sewers,  180. 

Dry  conservancy  system,  213. 
Dry  earth,  90-93. 

"ousumption  from  moisture,  44. 

Dry  -earth  system,  68,  213. 

Contagions  and  miasms,  67. 

Dysentery,  63. 

"ontamination  of  soil,  82. 

Contamination  of  wells,  81. 
Country  house-drainage,  79. 

Earth-closet  apparatus,  244. 
Earth-closet,  ashes  may  be   used    in 

Crosshill,  typhoid  at,  40. 

250. 

Croydon,  cost    Mid  value    of    sewer- 
age, 115. 
Oroydrn,  typhoid  and  sewer  ventila- 

Earth-closet, hygienic  advantages,  268 
Earth-closet,  manure   from,  226,  234 
268. 

tion  109,  112,  151,  167 

Earth-closet,  management  of,  217 

864 


INDEX. 


Earth-closet,  necessary  control,   225, 

263. 

260. 

Impervious  courses  In  foundations,  To 

Earth-closet  system,  214. 

Industrial  establishments  should  p»; 

Earth  for  closets,  how  obtained,  219. 

for  their  own  extra  sewer  require- 

Earth kinds  to  be  used  in  closets,  217, 

ments,  116. 

219. 

Inspectors  of  sewage  work,  183. 

Earth  privies,  how  arranged,  250. 
Earth    system  for  towns,    how  man- 

Intercepting sewers,  124. 
Intermittent  water  supply  as  a  catut 

aged,  224. 

of  typhoid  infection,  41. 

Earth,  the  same  may  be  repeatedly  used 
in  closets,  218. 

Irrigation,  315. 
Irrigation  tank,  sewage,  319. 

Eastw/ek,  sewerage  of,  325. 

Effete  matters  dangerous,  79. 

Jennings'*  closet,  78,  79,  193. 

B^g-shaped  sewers,  147. 

Johnson,  Prof.  S.  \V.,  on  soil  pollution, 

English  theory  of  typhoid  infection, 

24. 

24. 

Junctions  of  sewers,  177 

Epidemics  from  bad  sewerage,  118. 

Excrement  as  a  vehicle  of  typhoid  con- 
tagion, 152 

Kitchen  drain,  75. 

Lamp-holes,  175. 

Factories  and  other  industrial  estab- 

Large sewers  wasteful,  118. 

lishments  should  pay  for  their  own 

Latham's  charcoal  ventilator,  161. 

extra  sewer  requirements,  116. 

Lead  pipes,  decay  of,  95,  96. 

Fall  of  sewers,  142. 

Leconte,  Dr  ,  recommendations,  34. 

Fergus,  Dr.,  96. 

Leconte,  Dr.,  report  on  typhoid  at  St 

Fever  and  ague,  Staten  Island,  45. 

Mary's  Hall,  33. 

Field's  flush-tank,  198. 

Lewes,  typhoid  from  intermittent  w*. 

Filtering  through  soil,  81. 

ter  supply,  41. 

Filth,  hiding  it  under  ground,  88. 

Liebermeinter  on  typhoid,  58. 

Flint,  Dr.,  on  typhoid,  37. 
Flow  in  sewers,  how  retarded,  134 
Flushing,  106,  127,  166. 

Liernur's  system,  284. 
London  pumps,  27,  58. 

Flush-tank,  Field's.  198. 

Malaria,  108,  109. 

Forms  of  sewers,  146. 

Malaria  makes  all  diseases   more   M- 

Foul  drainage  of  houses,  75. 

rious,  116. 

Foundations,  73. 

Malarious    condition    made  worse   by 

Friction  in  sewers,  142. 

population,  110. 

Man-holes,  175. 

Goux  system,  214,  265 

Manure    question    as  affecting    earth 

Grease  traps,  77,  195. 

system,  225. 

Suiters  cheaper  than  sewers,  128 

Manure  from  earth-closet,  234. 

Maplewood  School,  30. 

Health,  effect  of  sanitary  work,  20. 

Miasmas  and  contagions,  57. 

Health  question,  its  financial  aspect, 

Mists  deleterious  to  health,  47,  48. 

51. 

Mortality  by  war  and  by  disease,  17. 

Holland,  Liernur's  system  in,  805. 

Moule's  apparatus,  244. 

Hotel,  Grand  Union  at  Saratoga,  141 

Moule's  dry  -earth  system,  214. 

House  drains,  dangers  of,  91. 

Moule's  system  for  house  slop  dispow.  ! 

House  draics   how  to  be  laid,  76. 

196.                              v 

House  drains,  obstructions  in,  76. 

Uouse    drains    should    enter    sewers 

Nervous  toothache,  bad  drainage,  53 

above  water  line,  164. 

Netten  Kadclitfe  on  the  earth  system 

ilouse  drains,  sizes  for,  137. 

253. 

Uouse  drains,  ventilation  of,  91-95. 

Neuralgia,  bad  drainage,  53. 

Householder,  problems  to  solve,  72. 

Newport  death-rate,  61. 

Uouse  slops,  disposal  of,  196,  329. 
Houses,  drainage  of,  71,  186. 

Newport,  sanitary  drainage,  59. 
New  York,  cost  of  cleansing  sewers  b* 

Housa  sewerage,  75. 

flushing,  170. 

House-slops,  disposal  of,  196 

New  York,  cost  of  cleansing  sewers  bj 

House  ventilation,  201. 

hand,  170. 

Hull  privy,  279. 

New  York,  old  water-courses  not  coo 

Boll  system  276 

necied  with  diphtheria,  63. 

INDEX. 


New  York  rain-fall,  182. 

Nuances,  87. 

Odor  and  taste  of  dangerous  drinking 

water,  83. 

Odor  of  sewer  gas,  94. 
Odor  not  a  sufficient  test  of  poisonous 

condition,  108. 
Organic  matter,  refuse,  87 
Outlets,  12t. 

Outlets  closed  by  tide,  125. 
Outlets  exposed  to  winds,  126, 156. 
Over-Darwen,  typhoid  at,  42. 

Pail  gystem,  273. 

Palmer,  Dr.,  report  on  "  Maplewood  " 
fever,  31. 

Pan  closet,  192. 

Pettenkofer's  theory  of  typhoid  in- 
fection, 23. 

Pipe  sewers  need  flushing,  173. 

Pittsfield  (Mass.),  "Maplewood  fever," 

Tlans  of  sewerage,  123. 

Plumbing  arrangements,  187. 

Plumbing  defects,  78. 

Plumbing  requires  careful  supervision, 

15. 

Pneumatic  emptying  of  vaults,  276. 
Pneumatic  system  of  drainage,  70. 
Pneumatic  system,  Liernur's,  284.     . 
Pressure  of  air  in  sewers,  154,  156. 
Private  drains,  106, 177,  206. 
Private  drains,  how  to  be  laid,  76. 
Private  drains  of  brick  or  stone,  118. 
Private  sewers,  106. 
Privies,  272. 

Privies,  earth,  how  arranged,  250. 
Privy  vault,  90. 
Providence  rain-fall,  131 
Providence,   rules  for   laying   private 

drains,  208. 
Providence,  sewerage  well   managed, 

Vublic  sanitary  improvement,  14. 
Purification  of  sewage,  318. 

Rain-fall,  128, 130. 

Rain-water  necessary  in  sewers,  150. 

Rain-water  pipes,  as  sewer  ventilators, 

Removal  of  sewage  should  be  imme- 
diate, 113. 

Rochdale  system,  273. 
Rome,  malarious  region  about,  109. 
Rcwe  on  storm-water  discharge,  132. 
Rules  for  laying  private  drains,  208. 

Sand  foundations,  73. 
Sanitary  dangers,  87. 
Sanitary  improvement  in  British  nary, 

Sanitary  works,  effect  on  health,  20. 
Saratoga  sewer,  139, 184. 


Scarlet  fever,  96. 
Scarlet  fever,  bad  drainage,  53. 
Scavenging,  88-90. 
Separate  system,  149. 
Sewage  discharged  into  tidal 

Sewage,  disposal  of,  814. 

Sewage,  effect  of  vegetation  on,  200. 

Sewage  irrigation,  149,  816. 

Sewage    not   dangerous    when   freak 

Sewage,  pumping,  118, 124,  126. 

Sewage  purification,  818. 

Sewage,  quantity  of,  for  each  person 

Sewage,  recent,  floats,  when  macerated 

sinks,  127. 
Sewage  tank,  319. 
Sewage  with  and  without  water-closet 

discharge,  113. 
Sewerage,  123. 
Sewerage  and  water  supply  should  b« 

provided  at  the  same  time,  108, 114. 
Sewerage,  cost  and  value  of,  in  Croy 

don,  115. 

Sewerage,  how  to  be  paid  for,  115. 
Sewerage    should   be   comprehensive 

Sewer  gas,  94. 

Sewer  gas  and  diptheria,  44. 

Sewer  gas,  dilution  of,  168. 

Sewer  gas,  how  admitted  to  the  house, 

Sewer  gas  transmitted  through  the  wa- 
ter of  traps,  97. 
Sewer  junctions,  177. 
Sewer  pipes,  144. 
Sewer  ventilation,  104, 149. 
Sewer  work  must  be  thorough,  181 
Sewers,  capacity  of,  134,  136. 
Sewers,  choking  of,  133. 
Sewers,  construction  of,  180 
Sewers,  deposits  in,  144 
Sewers,  fall  of,  142. 
Sewers,  flushing  of,  166. 
Sewers  may  become    elongated    MM* 

pools,  101. 

Sewers,  pressure  of  air  in,  154,  166. 
Sewers,  private,  106. 
Sewers,  requirements  of  good,  106. 
Sewers,  safe,  152. 
Sewers,    sanitary  authorities    should 

decide  what  is  to  be  admitted  to  them 

117. 

Sewers,  sizes  of,  127, 135, 138, 143. 
Sewers  sure  to  convey  contagion,  101 

112. 
Shawneetown  (111.),  formerly  malart 

ous,  110. 
Shedd,  J.  Herbert,  plan  of  street  gut 

lies,  176. 

Sickness,  proportion  to  death*,  17. 
Simon,  D»>,  on  "  ferments  of 


36C 


INDEX. 


Simon,  Dr.,  on  the  action  of  infective 
matters,  37. 

Typhoid,  its  causes  controllable,  29. 
Typhoid,  its  contagion,  36. 

Simon,  Dr.,  on  water-closets  190. 

Typhoid,  its  relation  to  site  of  house, 

Sink  drain,  76. 

66. 

Site  of  house,  its  relation  to  typhoid, 

Typhoid,  Liebermeister  on,  58. 

Smith's  closet,  78,  79. 

Typhoid  may  be  produced  de  noro,  30 
Typhoid,  Pettenkofers  theory,  23. 

Smith,   Dr.  Stephen,   "  Visitation    of 

Typhoid  propagation,  25. 

Providence,"  68. 

Typhoid  rate,   reduction  by   sanitan 

Soil  moisture  as  a  cause  of  consump- 

works, 21. 

tion,  44. 

Soil  moisture  and  fever  and  ague,  45. 
Soil  moisture  cause  of  dangerous  mists, 

Uppingham,  typhoid  at,  39 
Vaults,  272. 

Soil  pipes,  94. 

Vaults,  privy,  90. 

Soil  pipes  as  sewer  ventilators,  163. 

Vegetable  decay  as  a  cause  of  typhoid, 

Boil  pipes,  inspection  of,  97. 

29. 

toil  pipes  unventilated.  100. 

Vegetation,  effect  of,  on  sewage,  200. 

Soil  pipe  ventilation,  194. 

Velocity  of  flow,  increase  of,  in  sewers 

foil  water  drainage,  108. 

134. 

Stagnant  pools,  110. 

Velocity  of  flow  in  sewers,  134,  143. 

Ptaten  Island,  fe\er  and  ague,  45. 
Storms,  records  of.  129,  131. 

Ventilation  of  house  drain,  91,  93,  95 
Ventilation  of  houses,  201. 

etorm-water  removal,  124,  128,  132  . 

Ventilation  of    houses,    effect    of,  on 

Street  gullies,  173. 

health,  206. 

Subsoil    irrigation    with    house  slops, 

Ventilation  of  sewer,  104.  105,  106. 

196. 

Ventilation  of  sewers  by  frequent  open- 

Sulphuretted hydrogen,  153. 

ing  into  streets,  158,  162. 

Surface  water,  80. 

Ventilation    of   sewers    through    soil 

pipes  of  houses,  163. 

Taste  and  odor  of  dangerous  drinking- 

Ventilation  of  soil  pipes,  100,  194. 

water,  83. 

Ventilation  of  water-closets,  78. 

Taucton,  "the  cleanest  town  in  En- 

Village sewers,  138,  139. 

gland,"  63. 

Voelcker,  Dr.,  on  earth-closet  manure, 

Thoroughness  of  sewer  work,  181. 

234. 

Tide  valves,  178. 

Tide  water  outlets,  125. 

Wash-basin,  103. 

Town  sewerage,  123. 

Wash-basins  (stationary),  78 

Traps,  forcing  of,  98,  99,  102,  126,  189. 

Water  carriage,  118. 

Traps  for  grease,  195. 

Water-closets,  190. 

Traps,  siphoned  out,  99,  103. 

Water-closet,  defects  in,  77. 

Traps  transmit  gases,  9i,  189. 

Water-closet,    Dr.  De   Chaumont  on, 

Trough  closete,  282,  283. 

192. 

Tumbler  closets,  282. 

Water-closets,  Dr.  Hill  on,  192. 

Tumbler  for  flushing  sewer,  167. 

Water-closet  ventilation,  78. 

Typhoid,  101. 

Water-closets  should  always  be   sup- 

Typhoid and  sewer  ventilation,  153 
Typhoid  at  Brierly,  40. 
Typhoid  at  Crossbill.  40. 
Typhoid  at  Lewes,  41. 

plied  from  separate  cistern,  191. 
Water  supply  and  sewerage  should  be 
provided  at  the  same  time,  108,  114. 
Water  supply,  infected,  as  a  cause  of 

Typhoid  at  Over-Darwen.  42. 

typhoid,  43. 

Typhoid  at  Uppingham,  39. 
Typhoid,  contagion  by  means  of  excre- 
ment, 152. 

Water-closet  system  has  increased  the 
prevalence  of  certain  diseases,  101, 
111. 

Typhoid,  English  theory,  24. 
Typhoid  first  attacks  those  who  have 
become  debilitated  by  foul  surround- 

Water-closet   unsuitable    for    poorei 
classes,  191. 
Water  traps,  93. 

ings,  57. 

Wells,  80. 

Typhoid  from  infected  milk,  40,  41. 

Williamstown  (Mass.),   typhoid    fron 

I'yphoid  from  infected  water,  26. 
Typhoid   from    unventilated   sewers, 

poisoned  well,  57. 
Windsor  (England),  typhoid  from  d« 
fective  sewer,  112. 

typhoid  infection  from  intermittent 
water  supply,  41. 

Worthing  death-rate,  62. 
Worthing,  sanitary  drainage,  62 

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